System and method for providing awards for utilizing a mobile device in association with a gaming establishment retail account

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure relates generally to a system that determines whether or not a player wins an award, such as a progressive award, in association with utilizing funds transferred to (or otherwise funded directly to) at least the gaming establishment retail account (or an account linked or otherwise associated with a gaming establishment mobile wallet system).

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains or maycontain material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyrightowner has no objection to the photocopy reproduction by anyone of thepatent document or the patent disclosure in exactly the form it appearsin the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwisereserves all copyright rights whatsoever.

BACKGROUND

Gaming machines which provide players awards in primary or base gamesare well known. Gaming machines generally require the player to place ormake a wager to activate the primary or base game. In many of thesegaming machines, the award is based on the player obtaining a winningsymbol or symbol combination and on the amount of the wager. Generally,symbols or symbol combinations which are less likely to occur providehigher awards.

SUMMARY

In certain embodiments, the present disclosure relates to a systemincluding a processor, and a memory device which stores a plurality ofinstructions. When executed by the processor responsive to dataassociated with a gaming establishment retail account being accessed viaa mobile device application of a mobile device in association with apurchase made at a point-of-sale terminal of a gaming establishmentretail system and responsive to the purchase made at the point-of-saleterminal being a qualifying purchase, the instructions cause theprocessor to determine if a progressive award triggering event occurredin association with the qualifying purchase made at the point-of-saleterminal, and responsive to the progressive award triggering eventoccurring in association with the qualifying purchase made at thepoint-of-sale terminal communicate data to the mobile device whichresults in the mobile device displaying a notification associating withwinning a progressive award, and modify a credit balance of an account,the modification being based on the progressive award.

In certain embodiments, the present disclosure relates to a method ofoperating a system including, responsive to data associated with agaming establishment retail account being accessed via a mobile deviceapplication of a mobile device in association with a purchase made at apoint-of-sale terminal of a gaming establishment retail system andresponsive to the purchase made at the point-of-sale terminal being aqualifying purchase: determining, by a processor, if a progressive awardtriggering event occurred in association with the qualifying purchasemade at the point-of-sale terminal. Responsive to the progressive awardtriggering event occurring in association with the qualifying purchasemade at the point-of-sale terminal, the method includes communicatingdata to the mobile device which results in the mobile device displayinga notification associating with winning a progressive award, andmodifying a credit balance of an account, the modification being basedon the progressive award.

Additional features and advantages are described herein, and will beapparent from the following Detailed Description and the figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1A is an example configuration of the architecture of a pluralityof different components of the system disclosed herein.

FIGS. 1B, 1C, and 1D are example graphical user interfaces displayed ona mobile device in connection with providing an opportunity to win aprogressive award in association with a purchase made utilizing a gamingestablishment retail account.

FIGS. 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 2E, and 2F are example graphical user interfacesdisplayed on a mobile device in connection with actions initiated at amobile device and completed at an EGM.

FIGS. 3A, and 3B are example wireless configurations of the system ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of one embodiment of an electronicconfiguration of an example gaming system disclosed herein.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are perspective views of example alternative embodimentsof the gaming system disclosed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In various embodiments, the system disclosed herein determines whetheror not a player wins an award, such as a progressive award, inassociation with utilizing funds transferred to (or otherwise fundeddirectly to) at least the gaming establishment retail account (or anaccount linked or otherwise associated with a gaming establishmentmobile wallet system). In these embodiments, in association with aplayer making a purchase with funds maintained in a gaming establishmentretail account (or an account linked or otherwise associated with agaming establishment mobile wallet system), the gaming establishmentretail system (or a gaming establishment mobile wallet system associatedwith the gaming establishment retail system) notifies a progressivecontroller which maintains a progressive award. Upon the progressivecontroller determining that a progressive award triggering event occursin association with the purchase, the progressive controller designatesthe progressive award as being won by the player who made the purchaseusing funds maintained in the gaming establishment retail account. Sucha configuration of incentivizing users to utilize a gaming establishmentretail account (which is part of a gaming establishment mobile walleteco-system) to make purchases via providing such users a chance to win aprogressive award promotes the use of the gaming establishment mobilewallet eco-system and provides the player an otherwise uninterruptedgaming experience (i.e., increases the player's satisfaction with theirtime spent at the gaming establishment). Put differently, rather thanhaving to carry cash and/or ticket vouchers (which may be lost or stolenand which are associated with various costs to a gaming establishment)between the gaming establishment's retail space and the gamingestablishment's gaming space, utilizing progressive awards to promotedesignated payment solutions results in a player having access to fundsin both the gaming establishment's retail space and the gamingestablishment's gaming space without having to carry cash and/or ticketvouchers.

In various embodiments, the funds associated with the gamingestablishment retail account are accessible via one or more mobiledevices utilizing an application running on the mobile device (andwithout utilizing any physical forms of currency or physical ticketvouchers associated with any forms of currency). Such a configurationexpands the cashless/ticketless eco-system of accounts which areaccessible via one or more mobile devices and thus overcomes varioussecurity concerns and labor cost concerns associated with bothcash-based gaming, ticket voucher-based gaming and cash-based retail.Such a configuration further reduces the use of paper ticket vouchers(and any ink associated with the production of such paper ticketvouchers) to reduce the amount of waste produced by gamingestablishments. Such a reduction in the amount of waste produced bygaming establishments provides an environmental benefit of implementingthe system disclosed herein.

System Accounts

In various embodiments, the system disclosed herein includes variouscomponents or sub-systems which are each associated with or otherwisemaintain one or more accounts and which are configured to communicatewith one another. In these embodiments, the various accounts maintainedfor a user collectively form a resort or enterprise account (i.e., agaming establishment fund management account maintained by a gamingestablishment fund management system) for the user. That is, thecollection of cashless wagering accounts (i.e., cashless wageringwallets) and gaming establishment retail accounts (i.e., gamingestablishment retail wallets) associated with or otherwise maintainedfor a player or user collectively form a resort or enterprise account(i.e., an integrated resort wallet) which the player or user may accessto transfer funds and/or view balance information amongst the variousaccounts associated with or otherwise maintained for the player or user.

In various embodiments, the system includes one or more cashlesswagering systems which are each associated with or otherwise maintainone or more cashless wagering accounts. In certain embodiments, thesystem includes a first cashless wagering system which maintains a firstcashless wagering account, wherein a player utilizes a mobile deviceapplication running on a mobile device to facilitate the electronictransfer of any funds between this first cashless wagering account andan electronic gaming machine (“EGM”). For example, as seen in FIG. 1A, aresort wallet 102 or enterprise wallet includes or is otherwise incommunication with a Sports/Mobile Wallet 104 (i.e., a first cashlesswagering account maintained by a first cashless wagering system)accessible via a mobile device 210 running a mobile device applicationas described herein.

In certain embodiments, the system additionally or alternativelyincludes a second cashless wagering system which maintains a secondcashless wagering account associated with a physical instrument, such asa player issued magnetic striped card. In these embodiments, a playerutilizes the physical instrument (e.g., via inserting the card into aplayer tracking unit associated with an EGM) to facilitate theelectronic transfer of any funds between this second cashless wageringaccount and the EGM. Continuing with the example, as seen in FIG. 1A,the resort wallet 102 or enterprise wallet also includes or is otherwisein communication with a Casino Wallet 106 (i.e., a second cashlesswagering account maintained by a second cashless wagering system)accessible via a physical instrument, such as a player issued magneticstriped card associated with the second cashless wagering system 112 ora mobile device associated with the second cashless wagering system.

In various embodiments, in addition to or an alternative of maintainingone or more cashless wagering accounts via one or more cashless wageringsystems, the system includes one or more gaming establishment retailsystems which each maintain one or more gaming establishment retailaccounts. Such a gaming establishment retail account (i.e., a gamingestablishment retail wallet) of a gaming establishment retail systemintegrates with various retail point-of-sale systems throughout thegaming establishment to enable players to purchase goods and/or servicesvia the player's gaming establishment retail account. Continuing withthis example, as seen in FIG. 1A, the resort wallet 102 or enterprisewallet further includes or is otherwise in communication with a RetailWallet 108 (i.e., a gaming establishment retail account maintained by agaming establishment retail system) accessible via a point-of-saleterminal 114 associated with a gaming establishment. As further seen inFIG. 1A, the resort wallet 102 or enterprise wallet is further incommunication with a progressive controller 116 to report purchases madewith funds drawn from the Retail Wallet 108 (i.e., a gamingestablishment retail account maintained by a gaming establishment retailsystem) via the point-of-sale terminal 114 associated with a gamingestablishment.

In various embodiments, one or more of the above-described accounts arealso in communication with one or more external funding sources whichmaintain one or more external accounts for the player. For example, asseen in FIG. 1A, the resort wallet 102 or enterprise wallet is incommunication with a network of one or more banks or other financialinstitutions (i.e., the banking networks 110) which, as described below,operate to electronically transfer funds from the player's accountsmaintained as such banks or financial institutions to one or moreaccounts associated with the gaming establishment fund managementsystem. In certain embodiments, such a network of one or more banks orother financial institutions includes or is in communication with apayment processor 118 which reports to the progressive controller 116purchases made with funds drawn from an account linked or otherwiseassociated with the gaming establishment retail account maintained by agaming establishment retail system.

In certain embodiments (not shown), the gaming establishment fundmanagement system (which maintains a gaming establishment fundmanagement account or resort wallet for a player) is in communicationwith one or more credit systems which each issue the player one or morelines of credit or markers and/or one or more credit reporting/creditrisk systems which monitor and report on various accounts associatedwith the player.

Funding Gaming Establishment Retail Account

In various embodiments, prior to utilizing a mobile device to purchasegoods and/or services with funds drawn from a gaming establishmentretail account, an amount of funds must first be established orotherwise deposited in a gaming establishment retail account.

In various embodiments, a gaming establishment retail account is part ofa gaming establishment retail system. In these embodiments, the gamingestablishment retail account is a retail account with a balance or apre-paid access account which, per current regulations from the U.S.Treasury Department Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”),cannot be convertible to cash and can only be used for the purchase ofgoods and/or services. Such a gaming establishment retail account (i.e.,a gaming establishment retail wallet) of a gaming establishment retailsystem integrates with various retail point-of-sale systems throughoutthe gaming establishment to enable players/users to purchase goodsand/or services via the player's gaming establishment retail account. Itshould be appreciated that once an amount of funds are deposited in agaming establishment retail account, certain regulations dictate thatsuch funds cannot be converted back to cashable funds. That is, while anamount of funds deposited in a gaming establishment retail account maybe used with various retail point-of-sale systems throughout the gamingestablishment to enable players/users to purchase goods and/or services,such funds deposited in the gaming establishment retail account cannotbe converted to cash.

In certain embodiments, the creation of a gaming establishment retailaccount occurs via the system enabling a user or player to enroll insuch a gaming establishment retail account. In one such embodiment, thesystem enables a user or player to enroll or otherwise sign up for agaming establishment retail account via the user picking up a retailaccount card at various locations, such as shops, throughout the gamingestablishment. In another such embodiment, the system enables a user orplayer to electronically enroll or otherwise sign up for a gamingestablishment retail account via a mobile application running on amobile device, a point-of-sale terminal, an EGM and/or a kiosk. Inanother such embodiment, the system enables a user or player to enrollor otherwise sign up for a gaming establishment retail account by addinga retail account to their existing player tracking account.

In certain embodiments, the creation of a gaming establishment retailaccount occurs via the user attempting to use an amount of fundsassociated with the user (i.e., funds associated with the user's resortwallet or enterprise wallet) at a site which was not previouslyassociated with the user's resort wallet or enterprise wallet. In theseembodiments, upon the requested use of the funds of the user's resortwallet from a component of the system not otherwise linked to orassociated with the user's resort wallet, the system will create agaming establishment retail account associated with the requestingcomponent of the system. For example, if a user attempts to use fundsfrom their resort wallet at a gaming establishment retail location notpreviously linked to the user's resort wallet, the system will create agaming establishment retail account for the gaming establishment retaillocation and associate the created gaming establishment retail accountwith the user's existing resort wallet. Such dynamic account creationprovides users or players enhanced ease of use as they can seamlesslyuse their existing resort wallet at various new sites or locationswithin or otherwise associated with one or more gaming establishments.

In certain embodiments, a gaming establishment retail account isassociated with a third-party account, such as one or more credit cardaccounts, one or more debit card accounts and/or one or more third-partymaintained accounts (e.g., one or more PayPal® accounts or Venmo®accounts), from which funds are drawn from to fund the gamingestablishment retail account. In certain embodiments, the gamingestablishment retail account is associated with a gaming establishmentor a group of gaming establishments, wherein the system enables theplayer to establish a gaming establishment retail account by a depositof funds (such as at a kiosk). In other embodiments, the system fundsthe gaming establishment retail account via a mobile device electronicfund transfer, such using Apple Pay™ or Android Pay™. In variousembodiments, the system utilizes a mobile device running a mobile deviceapplication, a kiosk, an EGM and/or a gaming establishment interface tofacilitate this transfer of funds from a third-party account.

In certain embodiments, the system enables funds to be deposited in agaming establishment retail account via drawing funds from a gamingestablishment credit system which issues the player a line of credit ormarker. In certain other embodiments, the system includes one or moregaming establishment fund management systems which are each associatedwith or otherwise maintain one or more gaming establishment fundmanagement accounts for a player. In these embodiments, the gamingestablishment fund management system (which maintains a gamingestablishment fund management account for a player) is in communicationwith one or more credit systems which each issue the player one or morelines of credit or markers, wherein prior to the funds drawn from theline of credit being transferred to a gaming establishment retailaccount, such funds must first be transferred to or otherwiseestablished in the gaming establishment fund management account via oneor more lines of credits. In various embodiments, the system utilizes amobile device running a mobile device application, a kiosk, an EGMand/or a gaming establishment interface to facilitate these transfer(s)of funds from the gaming establishment credit system.

In certain embodiments, the system enables funds to be deposited in agaming establishment retail account via an electronic gaming machine(“EGM”). In certain embodiments, the system enables a player that has anamount of cash to utilize an EGM to convert the cash to an amountdeposited into a gaming establishment retail account (which issubsequently utilized to purchase goods and/or services at the gamingestablishment). In other embodiments, the system enables funds to bedeposited in a gaming establishment retail account via an EGM thataccepts printed ticket vouchers (i.e., a bearer instrument redeemablefor cash or game play on the EGM). In these embodiments, the systemenables a player that has one or more printed ticket vouchers to utilizean EGM to convert the printed ticket voucher to an amount deposited intoa gaming establishment retail account (which is subsequently utilized topurchase goods and/or services at the gaming establishment utilizing amobile device application).

In certain embodiments, the system enables funds to be deposited in agaming establishment retail account via a gaming establishmentinterface, such as a casino desk. In certain embodiments, the systemenables a player that has an amount of cash to utilize a gamingestablishment interface, such as a casino desk to convert the cash to anamount deposited into a gaming establishment retail account (which issubsequently utilized to purchase goods and/or services at the gamingestablishment utilizing a mobile device application). In otherembodiments, the system enables funds to be deposited in a gamingestablishment retail account via a gaming establishment interface thataccepts printed ticket vouchers. In these embodiments, the systemenables a player that has one or more printed ticket vouchers to utilizea gaming establishment interface to convert the printed ticket voucherto an amount deposited into a gaming establishment retail account (whichis subsequently utilized to purchase goods and/or services at the gamingestablishment utilizing a mobile device application).

In certain embodiments, the system enables funds to be deposited in agaming establishment retail account via a kiosk that accepts money. Incertain embodiments, the system enables a player that has an amount ofcash to utilize a kiosk to convert the cash to an amount deposited intoa gaming establishment retail account (which is subsequently utilized topurchase goods and/or services at the gaming establishment utilizing amobile device application). In other embodiments, the system enablesfunds to be deposited in a gaming establishment retail account via akiosk that accepts printed ticket vouchers. In these embodiments, thesystem enables a player that has one or more printed ticket vouchers toutilize a kiosk to convert the printed ticket voucher to an amountdeposited into a gaming establishment retail account (which issubsequently utilized to purchase goods and/or services at the gamingestablishment utilizing a mobile device application).

In certain embodiments, the gaming establishment retail account isassociated with funds associated with one or more virtual ticketvouchers. In certain embodiments, the system enables a player associatedwith an amount of virtual ticket vouchers (as described in more detailbelow) to utilize an EGM, a mobile device running an application, akiosk and/or a gaming establishment interface to convert the virtualticket vouchers to an amount deposited into a gaming establishmentretail account. Detailed examples of virtual ticket vouchers andwireless communication protocols associated with such virtual ticketvouchers are described in: (i) U.S. Published Patent Application No.2013/0023339, entitled “METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING SECURE LOGONTO A GAMING MACHINE USING A MOBILE DEVICE”; (ii) U.S. Published PatentApplication No. 2014/0162768, entitled “METHODS AND APPARATUS FORPROVIDING SECURE LOGON TO A GAMING MACHINE USING A MOBILE DEVICE”; (iii)U.S. Pat. No. 8,956,222, entitled “MOBILE DEVICE INTERFACES AT ANELECTRONIC GAMING MACHINE”; (iv) U.S. Published Patent Application No.2013/0260889, entitled “EMAILING OR TEXTING AS COMMUNICATION BETWEENMOBILE DEVICE AND EGM”; (v) U.S. Published Patent Application No.2013/0065668, entitled “REDEMPTION OF VIRTUAL TICKETS USING A PORTABLEELECTRONIC DEVICE”; (vi) U.S. Patent No. 2014/0121005, entitled “VIRTUALTICKET-IN AND TICKET-OUT ON A GAMING MACHINE”; (vii) U.S. PublishedPatent Application No. 2013/0065678, entitled “RETROFIT DEVICES FORPROVIDING VIRTUAL TICKET-IN AND TICKET-OUT ON A GAMING MACHINE”; (viii)U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2013/0065686, entitled “BILLACCEPTORS AND PRINTERS FOR PROVIDING VIRTUAL TICKET-IN AND TICKET-OUT ONA GAMING MACHINE”; (ix) U.S. Pat. No. 8,961,306, entitled “FEEDBACK TOPLAYER OF DEVICE CONNECTION STATE”; (x) U.S. Pat. No. 8,613,668,entitled “DIRECTIONAL WIRELESS COMMUNICATION”; (xi) U.S. PublishedPatent Application No. 2013/0316808, entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FORENTERING SENSITIVE DATA FOR AN ELECTRONIC GAMING MACHINE FROM A PORTABLEELECTRONIC DEVICE”; (xii) U.S. Pat. No. 8,622,836, entitled “USE OFWIRELESS SIGNAL STRENGTH TO DETERMINE CONNECTION”; and (xiii) U.S.Published Patent Application No. 2014/0248941, entitled “TRANSFERVERIFICATION OF MOBILE PAYMENTS”; the entire contents of each of whichare incorporated herein by reference.

In certain embodiments, the system enables a player to fund the gamingestablishment retail account independent of the mobile device andindependent of the mobile device application. In certain otherembodiments, the system enables a player to utilize a mobile devicerunning a mobile device application to fund the gaming establishmentretail account. More specifically and utilizing the example of a kiosk,in one embodiment, to utilize a mobile device and a kiosk to facilitatethe funding of a gaming establishment retail account, the playerwirelessly pairs or otherwise connects a mobile device with a kiosk. Inone example embodiment, the player moves the mobile device into therange of a wireless receiver of the kiosk. The kiosk and the launched oractivated mobile device application of the mobile device negotiate asecure, authenticated connection with the proper functionality, versionsand security settings. It should be appreciated that the kioskwirelessly connects with the mobile device running the mobile deviceapplication in the same or similar fashion to how a mobile device ispaired or connected with an EGM as described below.

After connecting the mobile device to the kiosk, the kiosk prompts theplayer to deposit an amount of funds into the kiosk. In one suchembodiment, the kiosk prompts the player to insert one or more billsinto a bill acceptor of the kiosk. In another such embodiment, the kioskadditionally or alternatively prompts the player to deposit a physicalticket voucher (associated with an amount of funds) into the kiosk. Inanother such embodiment, the kiosk additionally or alternatively promptsthe player to deposit a card associated with an external account, suchas a credit card or debit card into the kiosk. In another suchembodiment, the kiosk additionally or alternatively prompts the playerto enter information associated with an external account, such as acredit card account, a PayPal® account, a Venmo® account, or a debitcard account into the kiosk. In another such embodiment, the kioskadditionally or alternatively prompts the player to deposit an amount offunds into the kiosk using a mobile device electronic fund transfer,such using Apple Pay™ or Android Pay™.

In one embodiment, after a first amount of funds is accepted, such asafter a first bill or unit of currency is accepted, by the kiosk, thekiosk and/or the mobile device application enable the player to transferthe deposited amount of funds (e.g., a “Load Phone Now” button) orcontinue to deposit additional amounts of funds with the kiosk. Incertain embodiments, upon receiving an amount of funds from the playerand the player indicating to transfer the deposited amount of funds inassociation with the mobile device application, the kiosk communicateswith one or more servers, such as a gaming establishment retail server,to transfer an amount of money to a gaming establishment retail account(to be subsequently utilized to purchase goods and/or services at thegaming establishment utilizing a mobile device application).

It should be appreciated that while the above example embodiments aredescribed in relation to utilizing a mobile device to facilitate thetransferring one or more amounts of money or units of currency from akiosk to a gaming establishment retail account, such example embodimentsmay also be used to transfer, either as an isolated transaction or aspart of an operation mode, one or more amounts of money or units ofcurrency from an EGM to a gaming establishment retail account and/orfrom a gaming establishment interface, such as a casino desk, to agaming establishment retail account.

In certain embodiments, the system utilizes a mobile device tofacilitate the transfer of funds from a cashless wagering account to agaming establishment retail account. In these embodiments, the transferof funds from the cashless wagering account to the gaming establishmentretail account occurs via one or more applications being run or executedon the mobile device. It should be appreciated that in variousembodiments the system limits the transfer of funds from a cashlesswagering account to a gaming establishment retail account to funds thatcan be redeemed for cash, such as cashable credits and/or non-restrictedpromotional credits. That is, to prevent a player from improperlyconverting non-cashable credits held in a cashless wagering account toproducts and/or services, the system enables the player to utilizecashable credits (i.e., credits that can be directly converted to cash)to load funds from their cashless wagering account to their gamingestablishment retail account (which are then usable for goods and/orservices, but not otherwise redeemable for cash). In certainembodiments, this configuration provides just-in-time funding of thegaming establishment retail account to enable the player to makepurchases at different point-of-sale locations associated with thegaming establishment retail network.

Following the player's decision to transfer an amount of funds (in theform of cashable credits) from a cashless wagering account to a gamingestablishment retail account, the cashless wagering system determineswhether to authorize the transfer of the determined amount of funds. Ifthe cashless wagering system determines not to authorize the determinedamount of funds, the cashless wagering system communicates a denial tothe mobile device application, wherein the mobile device applicationdisplays a denial of fund transfer to the player.

On the other hand, if the cashless wagering system determines toauthorize the determined amount of funds, the cashless wagering systemupdates the cashless wagering account associated with the player (toreflect a reduction of the determined amount of cashable funds) andcommunicates an authorization to the gaming establishment retail system.The gaming establishment retail system then increases a balance ofavailable funds of the gaming establishment retail account by thetransferred amount of funds. The mobile device application proceeds withdisplaying an updated gaming establishment retail account balance aswell as an updated cashless wagering account balance.

In certain embodiments, the system includes an automatic reload featurewherein if a gaming establishment retail account falls below a thresholdlevel, the system automatically transfers an amount from the externalaccount, the cashless wagering account and/or the gaming establishmentaccount to the gaming establishment retail account. It should beappreciated that, in certain embodiments, the system enables the playerto enable or disable such an automatic reload feature.

Linking Mobile Device to Point-of-Sale Terminal to Make Purchase

In various embodiments, after establishing an amount of funds in agaming establishment retail account, but prior to enabling a player totake any action related to making a purchase of goods and/or servicesusing the funds in the gaming establishment retail account, a pairing orlinkage occurs between the mobile device and a point-of-sale terminal(“POST”) (or a component of a gaming establishment management systemlocated inside the POST (i.e., a component of the POST)). The pairing orlinkage between the mobile device and the POST occurs via one or moreapplications being run or executed on the mobile device.

In certain embodiments, the mobile device application utilized totransfer funds to and from a POST is a location based digital walletenabled application, such as a Passbook-enabled or Wallet-enabledapplication, which is accessible when the player enters a gamingestablishment. In certain embodiments, the mobile device applicationutilized to transfer funds to the POST is downloaded to the mobiledevice from an application store. In certain embodiments, the mobiledevice application utilized to transfer funds to and from a POST isdownloaded to the mobile device from one or more websites affiliatedwith the gaming establishment (which are accessible directly by theplayer and/or by a link opened when the player scans a QR codeassociated with the POST).

In certain embodiments, after a player has opened an application on amobile device and selected an action to be performed, the systemdetermines if the mobile device application is associated with an activeauthorization token previously created by the system. In theseembodiments, an authorization token is a time-based token which expiresafter a designated period of time and which is associated with anadditional level of player authentication beyond a player's applicationusername and application password. A further explanation regardingauthorization tokens and utilizing authorization tokens is describedbelow regarding pairing a mobile device with an EGM. It should beappreciated that while the authorization token represents an additionallevel of player authentication, the pairing of the mobile device and thePOST as disclosed herein may occur without the use of such authorizationtokens.

In operation, following the above-described establishment of a gamingestablishment retail account and the above-described funding of thegaming establishment retail account, the player presents a retail walletidentity (i.e., a physical card associated with the gaming establishmentretail account or a mobile device running a mobile device applicationassociated with the gaming establishment retail account) at anapplicable terminal of the point-of-sale system within or otherwiseassociated with the gaming establishment for the purchase of goodsand/or services. For example, to make a purchase of goods and/orservices, the mobile device application prompts the player to cause themobile device to engage the POST, such as prompting the player to tapthe mobile device to a designated portion of the POST (or otherwisemoving the mobile device to within a designated distance of a designatedlocation of the POST). For example, as seen in FIG. 1B, upon launchingthe application on the mobile device, the mobile device applicationdisplays that the user has a $100 in their gaming establishment retailaccount (i.e., the displayed $100 Retail Wallet Balance) and instructsthe user to tap the mobile device to the register (i.e., the point ofsale terminal).

Upon receiving data or information regarding the retail wallet identify,the point-of-sale system then communicates with the gaming establishmentretail wallet system to confirm that the gaming establishment retailaccount has adequate funds for the intended purchase. If the gamingestablishment retail wallet system confirms the presence of adequatefunds in the gaming establishment retail account, the point-of-salesystem authorizes the sale of the goods and/or services and communicatesdata to the gaming establishment retail wallet system to deduct theprice of the purchased goods and/or services from the gamingestablishment retail account.

On the other hand, if the gaming establishment retail wallet systemindicates that the gaming establishment retail account lacks adequatefunds for the purchase, the point-of-sale system denies this saletransaction of the goods and/or services using the gaming establishmentretail account.

Progressive Award Determination

In various embodiments, in addition to enabling a player to present aretail wallet identity (i.e., a physical card associated with the gamingestablishment retail account or a mobile device running a mobile deviceapplication associated with the gaming establishment retail account) atan applicable terminal of the point-of-sale system within or otherwiseassociated with the gaming establishment for the purchase of goodsand/or services, the system determines whether or not to provide theplayer a progressive award in association with the purchase of goodsand/or services.

In various embodiments, a controller, such as the progressivecontroller, maintains one progressive award associated with thequalifying purchases made in association with the gaming establishmentretail system. In other embodiments, the progressive controllermaintains a plurality of progressive awards in association with aplurality of qualifying purchases (or classes of qualifying purchases).In one such embodiment, the value of the qualifying purchase determineswhich progressive award the qualifying purchase is associated with. Forexample, qualifying purchases having a value in a first range areassociated with a first progressive award and qualifying purchaseshaving a value in a second, higher range are associated with a second,higher progressive award. In another such embodiment, one or moreidentifying characteristics of the player making the qualifyingpurchase, such as a player tracking status or a quantity of purchasesmade in a designated period of time, determines which progressive awardthe qualifying purchase is associated with. For example, qualifyingpurchases made by a player having a first player tracking status areassociated with a first progressive award and qualifying purchases madeby a player having a second, higher player tracking status areassociated with a second, higher progressive award.

In certain embodiments, the progressive controller maintains theplurality of progressive awards in a multi-level progressive awardconfiguration (“MLP”). In one such embodiment, the MLP includes aplurality of progressive award levels associated with the plurality ofqualifying purchases wherein for each of a group of qualifyingpurchases, the progressive controller associates one or more of themaintained progressive awards with that progressive award level of theMLP. In one such embodiment, qualifying purchases made by players havinga certain status are associated with a first level of the MLP andqualifying purchases made by players having a second, different statusare associated with a second, different level of the MLP. In anothersuch embodiment, qualifying purchases made using a certain type ofpayment are associated with a first level of the MLP and qualifyingpurchases made using a different type of payment are associated with asecond, different level of the MLP.

In certain embodiment, the progressive controller allocates a portion ofone or more qualifying purchases to one or more of the maintainedprogressive awards. In one such embodiment, upon each occurrence of aprogressive award contribution event, the progressive controllerallocates a portion of each qualifying purchase to one or moreprogressive awards. In another such embodiment, the progressivecontroller allocates a portion of qualifying purchases having a valueabove a certain threshold level to one or more progressive awards. Inanother such embodiment, the progressive controller allocates a portionof qualifying purchases made by players having a certain status to oneor more progressive awards. In another such embodiment, the progressivecontroller allocates a portion of qualifying purchases made by playersusing a certain type of payment to one or more progressive awards. Inanother such embodiment, if the player paid for the purchase with acredit card maintained by a partner financial institution, then thepartner credit card operator returns a portion of a transaction fee of apercentage of the amount of the purchase to the gaming establishment andthe progressive controller uses this returned amount to fund theprogressive award. In another such embodiment, if the player paid forthe purchase with funds in the gaming establishment retail accountmaintained for the player (or another gaming establishment accountmaintained for the player, such as a cashless wagering account or agaming establishment mobile wallet account), then the progressivecontroller utilizes the savings the gaming establishment experiencesover having to pay credit or debit card transaction fees to fund theprogressive award. In another such embodiment, the progressivecontroller funds one or more progressive awards at least partially, viaan amount provided by one or more marketing and/or advertisingdepartments, such as a gaming establishment's marketing department.

In certain embodiments, the progressive controller utilizes the samecontribution rate to the progressive award for each occurrence of aprogressive award contribution event. In another embodiment, theprogressive controller utilizes different contribution rates to theprogressive award for occurrences of different progressive awardcontribution events. In one such embodiment, different progressive awardcontribution events are associated with different types of payments madeon qualifying purchases. For example, a first progressive awardcontribution event associated with a first contribution rate occurs if aqualifying purchase occurred using a credit card while a secondprogressive award contribution event associated with a second, highercontribution rate occurs if a qualifying purchase occurred using agaming establishment retail account accessed via a mobile device.

In one embodiment, the progressive controller is coupled to a pluralityof servers at a variety of mutually remote sites for providing amulti-site linked progressive controller. In one embodiment, theprogressive controller may serve gaming establishments distributedthroughout a number of properties at different geographical locationsincluding, for example, different locations within a city or differentcities within a state.

In one embodiment, at least two of the progressive awards are associatedwith different types of qualifying purchases made (e.g., one progressiveaward for goods purchased and one progressive award for servicespurchases). In one embodiment, at least two of the progressive awardsare associated with different types of triggering events (e.g.,triggering events based on total amounts purchases or triggering eventsbased on time). In another embodiment, at least two of the progressiveawards are associated with different triggering events. In one suchembodiment, a first progressive award is associated with a short termtriggering event and a second progressive award is associated with along term triggering event. The short term triggering event occurs morefrequently than the long term triggering event. Thus, one or more of theprogressive awards may be provided frequently (e.g., such as those witha low value or those associated with relatively purchased goods and/orservices) while another one or more of the progressive awards may beprovided infrequently (e.g., such as those with a high value or thoseassociated with relatively infrequently purchased goods and/orservices).

In one embodiment, one or more progressive awards are associated withthe purchase of goods and/or services from a point-of-sale of a gamingestablishment retail system (and are independent of any progressiveawards associated with any wagering games played). In anotherembodiment, one or more progressive awards are associated with thepurchase of goods and/or services from a point-of-sale of a gamingestablishment retail system and further associated with one or morewagering games played and/or secondary games played. In this embodiment,the progressive controller is operable to provide a player a maintainedprogressive award in association with the below-described progressiveaward triggering event or any progressive award triggering eventassociated with a play of a wagering game, such as based on an eventdisplayed in association with a play of a wagering game (or a secondarygame triggered from the wagering game) or based on an event independentof any displayed event from any play of any game. That is, in certainembodiments, the progressive controller described herein is tied toactivity at gaming table and/or an EGM such that players contribute toand are eligible to win one or more progressive awards via game playoccurring at an EGM, game play occurring at a gaming table or throughretail purchases

In certain embodiments, upon the player making a purchase of goodsand/or services at an applicable terminal of the point-of-sale systemwithin or otherwise associated with the gaming establishment, the systemdetermines if the purchase is a qualifying purchase. In certainembodiments, all purchases made are qualifying purchases. In certainembodiments, certain purchases are qualifying purchases while certainother purchases are non-qualifying purchases. In these embodiments, thedetermination of whether or not a purchase is a qualifying purchase isbased on one or more of: one or more attributes of the purchaser (e.g.,a status of the purchaser and/or transactional history of thepurchaser), one or more attributes of the seller (e.g., a status of thepurchaser and/or transactional history of the purchaser), one or moreattributes of the good or service purchased (e.g., a value of the goodor services purchased), one or more attributes of the purchase (e.g., atime of the purchase and/or a location of the purchase).

In certain embodiments, after determining that the purchase is aqualifying purchase, the system notifies the progressive controller ofthe purchase. In one such embodiment wherein the purchase is made usinga gaming establishment account (e.g., a gaming establishment retailaccount and/or a cashless wagering account) associated with or otherwisepart of a gaming establishment fund management system, the system (andmore specifically the gaming establishment fund management system)notifies the progressive controller of the purchase. In anotherembodiment, upon the player making a purchase of goods and/or servicesutilizing a mobile device running a mobile device application associatedwith cashless wagering account, the system notifies the progressivecontroller of the purchase. In another embodiment wherein the purchaseis made using a non-gaming establishment account (e.g., a credit cardaccount or a debit card account linked or otherwise associated with thegaming establishment retail account maintained by a gaming establishmentretail system), the system (and more specifically a payment processorassociated with such non-gaming establishment accounts (or associatedwith the gaming establishment retail system)) notifies the progressivecontroller of the purchase. In another embodiment, upon the playermaking a purchase of goods and/or services utilizing a credit cardaccount (which is linked to or otherwise associated with the gamingsystem mobile wallet account maintained for the player and/or linked toa player tracking account maintained for the player by a gamingestablishment management system), the system notifies the progressivecontroller of the purchase. In another embodiment, upon the playermaking a purchase of goods and/or services utilizing a debit cardaccount (which is linked to or otherwise associated with the gamingsystem mobile wallet account maintained for the player and/or linked toa player tracking account maintained for the player by a gamingestablishment management system), the system notifies the progressivecontroller of the purchase. In another embodiment, upon the playermaking a purchase of goods and/or services utilizing a third-partyaccount (such as a PayPal® account or a Venmo® account which is linkedto or otherwise associated with the gaming system mobile wallet accountmaintained for the player and/or linked to a player tracking accountmaintained for the player by a gaming establishment management system),the system notifies the progressive controller of the purchase. Inanother embodiment, upon the player making a purchase of goods and/orservices utilizing a mobile device electronic fund transfer (such asApple Pay™ or Android Pay™ which is linked to or otherwise associatedwith the gaming system mobile wallet account maintained for the playerand/or linked to a player tracking account maintained for the player bya gaming establishment management system), the system notifies theprogressive controller of the purchase. In another embodiment, upon theplayer making a purchase of goods and/or services utilizing a pre-paidcard (which is linked to or otherwise associated with the gaming systemmobile wallet account maintained for the player and/or linked to aplayer tracking account maintained for the player by a gamingestablishment management system), the system notifies the progressivecontroller of the purchase. It should be appreciated that the systemdisclosed herein is operable to notify the progressive controller of apurchase made using any combination of one or more (or all) of thesedifferent ways to purchase goods and/or services (which are linked to orotherwise associated with the gaming system mobile wallet accountmaintained for the player and/or linked to a player tracking accountmaintained for the player by a gaming establishment management system).

In certain embodiments, as indicated above, the gaming establishmentretail system notifies the progressive controller of the purchased goodsand/or services. In certain embodiments, the gaming establishment mobilewallet system notifies the progressive controller of the purchased goodsand/or services. In certain embodiments, the cashless wagering systemnotifies the progressive controller of the purchased goods and/orservices. In certain embodiments, one or more components of a banking orfinancial institution network, such as a payment processor, notifies theprogressive controller of the purchased goods and/or services. It shouldbe appreciated that any component which monitors such purchases (eitherfrom the seller's side or the purchaser's side) and is in communicationwith the progressive controller is operable to notify the progressivecontroller of the purchased goods and/or services.

In certain embodiments, the applicable system or component notifies theprogressive controller that a purchase of goods and/or servicesoccurred. In certain embodiments, the applicable system or componentadditionally notifies the progressive controller of an identity, ifknown, of the player whom made the purchase. In one such embodiment, thesystem enables known players (i.e., players identified via a gamingestablishment management system, such as a player tracking system) andunknown players to potentially win a progressive award based on theirretail purchases. In another such embodiment, the system enables knownplayers and unknown players to contribute to the progressive award(based on a percentage of the player's purchase amount), but onlyenables known players to potentially win a progressive award based ontheir retail purchases. In another such embodiment, the system onlyenables known players to contribute to the progressive award (based on apercentage of the player's purchase amount) and potentially win aprogressive award based on their retail purchases.

In certain embodiments, the applicable system or component additionallynotifies the progressive controller of the amount of the purchase(wherein a portion of the amount of the purchase is used to fund theprogressive award as described below). In certain embodiments, theapplicable system or component additionally notifies the progressivecontroller of how the goods and/or services were purchased (wherein, asdescribed below, certain avenues of purchasing the goods and/or servicesare associated with an opportunity to win a progressive award andcertain other certain avenues of purchasing the goods and/or servicesare not associated with any opportunity to win a progressive award).

Following the notification to the progressive controller of thepurchased goods and/or services, the progressive controller determineswhether a progressive award triggering event occurred in association ofthe notification of the purchased goods and/or services.

In certain embodiments, the probability of a progressive awardtriggering event occurring in association with a qualifying purchase isthe same for each type of payment made to purchase the good and/orservice. For example, regardless of if the player makes a purchase witha credit card (linked to the gaming establishment retail system and/orthe gaming establishment management system) or using funds drawn from agaming establishment retail account via a mobile device, the odds of aprogressive award triggering event occurring are the same. In certainembodiments, the probability of a progressive award triggering eventoccurring in association with a qualifying purchase is different fordifferent types of payment made to purchase the good and/or service. Forexample, if the player makes a purchase with a credit card (linked tothe gaming establishment retail system and/or the gaming establishmentmanagement system), the odds of the progressive award triggering eventoccurring are different than had the player made the purchase usingfunds drawn from a gaming establishment retail account via a mobiledevice.

In certain embodiments, a progressive award triggering event may occurregardless of the type of payment made to purchase the goods and/orservices. In certain other embodiments, a progressive award triggeringevent may occur in association with purchases made with certain types ofpayments and may not occur in association with purchases made withcertain other types of payments. For example, a progressive awardtriggering event may occur in association with purchases made usingcertain predetermined types of payments, such as with funds drawn from agaming establishment retail account or using a designated credit card(i.e., a credit card from a partnering financial institution), but aprogressive award triggering event may not occur in association withpurchases made using other, non-predetermined types of payments, such asusing a non-designated credit card (i.e., a credit card from anon-partnering financial institution).

In certain embodiments, a progressive award triggering event may occurone time in association with a qualifying purchase. In certain otherembodiments, a progressive award triggering event may occur more thanone time in association with a qualifying purchase. In certain suchembodiments, the value of the qualifying purchase determines thequantity of progressive award triggering events which may occur suchthat higher valued purchases are associated with more chances of aprogressive award triggering event. In other such embodiments, one ormore attributes associated with the purchase, such as length of time ofa purchased service, determines the quantity of chances of a progressiveaward triggering event occurring.

In one embodiment, for one or more qualifying retail purchases made, theprogressive controller enables the player to play one or more games, viaa mobile device, at the point-of-sale terminal, and/or logging into aweb browser. In this embodiment, such played games (i.e. providedprogressive award opportunities) include one or more determinations ofwhether the qualifying purchase causes a progressive award triggeringevent to occur. In certain such embodiment, the determination of whetherthe qualifying purchase causes a progressive award triggering event tooccur is a symbol driven determination based on the generation of one ormore designated symbols or symbol combinations being determined inassociation with a play of a game. For example, as seen in FIG. 1C,after updating the retail wallet balance to reflect a purchase of $50,the mobile device application displays a plurality of reels to determinewhether or not a progressive award triggering event occurs. In variousembodiments, a generation of a designated symbol (or sub-symbol) or adesignated set of symbols (or sub-symbols) over one or more plays of agame causes such conditions to be satisfied and/or one or more of suchevents to occur. In different embodiments, such games include, but arenot limited to: a play of any suitable slot game, a play of any suitablewheel game, a play of any suitable card game, a play of any suitablemulti-hand card game, a play of any suitable offer and acceptance game,a play of any suitable award ladder game, a play of any suitablepuzzle-type game, a play of any suitable persistence game, a play of anysuitable selection game, a play of any suitable cascading symbols game,a play of any suitable ways to win game, a play of any suitable scatterpay game, a play of any suitable coin-pusher game, a play of anysuitable elimination game, a play of any suitable trail game, a play ofany suitable bingo game, a play of any suitable video scratch-off game,a play of any suitable pick-until-complete game, a play of any suitableshooting simulation game, a play of any suitable racing game, a play ofany suitable promotional game, a play of any suitable high-low game, aplay of any suitable lottery game, a play of any suitable numberselection game, a play of any suitable dice game, a play of any suitableskill game, a play of any suitable auction game, a play of any suitablereverse-auction game, and/or a play of any suitable group game.

In different embodiments, the system does not provide any apparentreasons to the players for an occurrence of a progressive awardtriggering event. In these embodiments, such determinations are nottriggered by an event in any displayed game but rather occur without anyexplanation or alternatively with simple explanations.

In one such embodiment, a progressive award triggering event randomlyoccurs. In this embodiment, upon receiving notification of a qualifyingpurchase, the progressive controller determines, based on one or moreprobabilities, such as using one or more weighted probability tables,whether a progressive award triggering event occurs.

In one such embodiment, a progressive award triggering event occursbased on an amount of qualifying purchases made. In this embodiment, thesystem determines if an amount of qualifying purchases made (in terms ofmonetary amounts of such qualifying purchases) reaches or exceeds adesignated amount of purchases made (i.e., a threshold purchases madeamount). Upon the amount of qualifying purchases made reaching orexceeding the threshold purchases made amount, the system causes theprogressive award triggering event to occur. In different embodiments,the threshold purchases made amount is predetermined, randomlydetermined, determined based on a player's status (such as determinedthrough a player tracking system), determined based on time (such as thetime of day) or determined based on any other suitable method orcriteria.

In different embodiments, a progressive award triggering event occursbased on a predefined variable reaching a defined parameter threshold.For example, when the 500,000^(th) player has made a qualifying purchase(ascertained from a player tracking system and the gaming establishmentretail system), a progressive award triggering event occurs. Indifferent embodiments, the predefined parameter thresholds include alength of time, a length of time after a certain dollar amount inqualifying purchases is hit, a total monetary value amount of qualifyingpurchases made, or any other parameter that defines a suitablethreshold.

In different embodiments, a progressive award triggering event occursbased on a quantity of qualifying purchases. In this embodiment, aquantity of qualifying purchases made is set for when that determinedquantity is reached, the progressive award triggering event occurs. Inone embodiment, such a set quantity of qualifying purchases made isbased on historic data.

In different embodiments, a progressive award triggering event occursbased on time. In this embodiment, a time is set for when a qualifyingpurchase made (or a qualifying purchase is made closest to the set time)causes a triggering of the progressive award triggering event. In oneembodiment, such a set time is based on historic data.

In different embodiments, a progressive award triggering event occursbased on a determination of if any numbers allotted to a qualifyingpurchase made match a randomly selected number. In this embodiment, uponeach qualifying purchase made, the progressive controller selects arandom number from a range of numbers and allocates the first N numbersin the range, where N is the amount of the qualifying purchase made. Theprogressive controller of this embodiment then compares the randomlyselected number with the numbers allocated to the player and if a matchoccurs, the progressive award triggering event occurs.

In another embodiment, as the player makes qualifying purchases, thesystem allocates points or tokens with the player. In one suchembodiment, upon the player accumulating a designated quantity of pointsor tokens, the system enables a player to participate in one or moregames wherein an outcome of the game is the occurrence of a progressiveaward triggering event.

It should be appreciated that any suitable manner of causing aprogressive award triggering event to occur may be implemented inaccordance with the system and method disclosed herein. It should befurther appreciated that one or more of the above-described triggerspertaining to a progressive award triggering event occurring may becombined in one or more different embodiments.

If the progressive controller determines that a progressive awardtriggering event occurred, the system notifies the player that they wona progressive award. This notification informs the player that they havebeen selected as the winning player and/or the amount of the progressiveaward. In one such embodiment, the notification includes informationrelating to a stored progressive award or information relating to thewinning player. In one embodiment, the system utilizes the mobile deviceapplication to inform the player of their winnings. For example, as seenin FIG. 1D, the mobile device application informs the player that theywon a progressive award of $10,117. In another embodiment, thenotification may be provided in the form of a message sent to thepoint-of-sale terminal at which the winning player made the qualifyingpurchase. If the winning player is no longer at the point-of-saleterminal or cannot be located within the gaming establishment, thenotification may be sent in any other manner, such as through telephone,e-mail, text messages, social media postings or any other suitablemedium. In one embodiment, an electronic kiosk at the gamingestablishment and/or one or more electronic signs in the gamingestablishment may be used to provide such notification and enable thewinning players to claim the progressive award. Alternatively, suchnotification is displayed on a website accessible to the players whichprovides instructions for the winning player to claim the award at thegaming establishment.

In one embodiment, the winning player must return to the gamingestablishment to claim the progressive award associated with thequalifying purchase made. In another embodiment, the system additionallyor alternatively automatically deposits the amount of the progressiveaward in one or more accounts associated with the player, such as thecashless wagering account. In one such embodiment, after depositing theamount of the progressive award into one or more accounts associatedwith the player, the system proceeds to freeze or otherwise block accessto the deposited amount of the progressive award until the playercomplete the appropriate tax forms.

Such a configuration of enabling players to win one or more progressiveawards for qualifying purchases made in association with a gamingestablishment retail system advances technology by making availableawards to players that may not have otherwise had the opportunity to winsuch awards. That is, since currently 50% of the total spend at gamingestablishments comes in retail verticals of the business and furthersince players can only play for progressive awards at EGMs, as part oftable games, and/or as part of mobile games, enabling players to playfor such progressive awards in association with the player's retailexperience benefits players via such progressive awards and furtherbenefits the gaming establishments via enhanced branding. Moreover,since one avenue to make purchases at a gaming establishment occur via agaming establishment retail account accessed by a mobile device runninga mobile application, promotion of this avenue to make purchases byemploying the progressive award disclosed herein not only overcomesvarious security concerns and labor cost concerns associated withcash-based retail.

Following the notification that the progressive award triggering eventoccurred in association with a qualifying purchase and the subsequentproviding of the amount of the progressive award to the player (or theescrowing of the amount of the progressive award to be provided to theplayer), the progressive controller resets the value of the progressiveaward to a reset value.

It should be appreciated that while described above as providing aprogressive award in association with a qualifying purchase made, anysuitable non-progressive award may be provided in association with aqualifying purchase made. It should also appreciated that whiledescribed above as providing a progressive award in association with aqualifying purchase made, any suitable award opportunity (i.e., a playof any suitable game disclosed herein which includes a chance to win anaward) and/or modification of one or more aspects of one or more gamesdisclosed herein (e.g., an increased probability to win a designatedaward, such as the progressive award otherwise available in associationwith a qualifying purchase made, during the play of the game) may beprovided in association with a qualifying purchase made.

Funding Cashless Wagering Account

In various embodiments, in addition to using the funds in a gamingestablishment retail account to purchase goods and/or services atvarious gaming establishment retail outlets and potentially winning oneor more progressive awards in association with such purchases, thesystem disclosed herein enables a player to transfer an amount of suchfunds from the gaming establishment retail account to a cashlesswagering account.

In certain embodiments, the system utilizes a mobile device tofacilitate the transfer of funds from a gaming establishment retailaccount to a cashless wagering account. In these embodiments, thetransfer of funds from a gaming establishment retail account to acashless wagering account occurs via one or more applications being runor executed on the mobile device.

In various embodiments, the mobile device application utilized totransfer funds between a gaming establishment retail account and acashless wagering account is associated with the gaming establishmentretail account and the cashless wagering account, such that the playermay view the balances of at least these accounts via the mobile deviceapplication.

In certain embodiments, the mobile device application utilized totransfer funds between a gaming establishment retail account and acashless wagering account is a location based digital wallet enabledapplication, such as a Passbook-enabled or Wallet-enabled application,which is accessible when the player enters a gaming establishment. Incertain embodiments, the mobile device application utilized to transferfunds between a gaming establishment retail account and a cashlesswagering account is downloaded to the mobile device from an applicationstore. In certain embodiments, the mobile device application utilized totransfer funds between a gaming establishment retail account and acashless wagering account is downloaded to the mobile device from one ormore websites or application stores affiliated with the gamingestablishment (which are accessible directly by the player and/or by alink opened when the player scans a QR code associated with the EGM).

In various embodiments, the mobile device application enables the playerto request that an amount of funds be transferred from the gamingestablishment retail account to the cashless wagering account.

It should be appreciated that since the balance of funds in the gamingestablishment retail account cannot be converted to cash, the systemtransfers any funds from the gaming establishment retail account to thecashless wagering account as non-cashable credits. As described below,such non-cashable credits may be subsequently transferred to the EGM(and usable to play one or more wagering games on the EGM), but suchnon-cashable credits may not be otherwise directly redeemable for cash(however any winnings from any games played funded by such non-cashablecredits are redeemable for cash). In certain scenarios, the conversionof an amount of non-cashable funds from a gaming establishment retailaccount to an amount of non-cashable credits of a cashless wageringaccount is effectively providing that an amount of non-cashable fundsfrom a gaming establishment retail account is being used to purchase aquantity of pre-paid plays. In different embodiments, these pre-paidplays are of one or more wagering games of an EGM, one or moreplacements of one or more sports wagers on one or more sporting events,one or more wagering games of a mobile device and/or one or more tablegames occurring at a gaming table. It should thus be appreciated thatwhile described herein predominantly as a player placing wagers at anEGM, the present disclosure also applies to wagers placed by the playerat a gaming table, such as an electronic gaming table, wagers placed bya player at a gaming terminal associated with one or more gaming tables,wagers placed by a player on a mobile device, wagers placed by a playeron one or more sporting events, and/or any applicable wagers placed viaany applicable wagering device associated with the system.

Following the player's decision to transfer an amount of funds (in theform of non-cashable credits) from a gaming establishment retail accountto a cashless wagering account, the gaming establishment retail systemdetermines whether to authorize the transfer of the determined amount offunds. If the gaming establishment retail system determines not toauthorize the determined amount of funds, the gaming establishmentretail system communicates a denial to the mobile device application,wherein the mobile device application display a denial of funds transferto the player.

On the other hand, if the gaming establishment retail system determinesto authorize the determined amount of funds, the gaming establishmentretail system updates the gaming establishment retail account associatedwith the player (to reflect a reduction of the determined amount offunds) and communicates an authorization to the cashless wageringsystem. The cashless wagering system increases a balance of non-cashablecredits of the cashless wagering account by the transferred amount offunds. The mobile device application proceeds with displaying an updatedgaming establishment retail account balance as well as an updatedcashless wagering account balance.

Accordingly, the utilization of a mobile device to facilitate thetransfer of funds from a gaming establishment retail account to acashless wagering account provides a player an otherwise uninterruptedgaming experience and thus increases the player's satisfaction withtheir time spent at the gaming establishment. That is, rather thanhaving to carry cash and/or ticket vouchers (which may be lost or stolenand which, as described below, are associated with various costs to agaming establishment) between the gaming establishment's retail spaceand the gaming establishment's gaming space, the system enables a playerto simply carry their mobile device which has access to funds to be usedin both the gaming establishment's retail space and the gamingestablishment's gaming space. Moreover, since certain regulationsprovide that funds which reside in a cashless wagering account arefrozen if wagers are not placed using that cashless wagering accountwithin a sixteen month period, the utilization of a gaming establishmentretail account (which do not have the same time-based restrictions) tohold the funds coupled with the seamless, mobile facilitated transfer ofsuch funds from the gaming establishment retail account to the cashlesswagering account overcomes certain player's concerns of having theirfunds frozen due to inactivity.

In certain embodiments, the system includes automatically transferringfunds from the gaming establishment retail account to the cashlesswagering account utilizing the mobile device application. In one suchembodiment, the system includes an automatic reload feature wherein if acashless wagering account balance falls below a threshold level, thesystem, including, but not limited to the mobile device, automaticallyfacilitates the transfer an amount of funds (as non-cashable credits)from the gaming establishment retail account to the cashless wageringaccount. It should be appreciated that, in certain embodiments, thesystem enables the player to enable or disable such an automatic reloadfeature.

In certain embodiments, to comply with one or more applicablejurisdictional standards, the system imposes limits to the amount offunds which may be transferred, utilizing the mobile device application,from the gaming establishment retail account to the cashless wageringaccount per transaction request. In certain embodiments, the systemimposes limits to the amount of funds which may be transferred,utilizing the mobile device application, from the gaming establishmentretail account to the cashless wagering account within a designatedperiod of time. In certain embodiments, the system imposes limits to theamount of funds which may be transferred, utilizing the mobile deviceapplication, from the gaming establishment retail account to thecashless wagering account for certain activities. In certainembodiments, the system imposes limits to the amount of funds which maybe transferred, utilizing the mobile device application, from the gamingestablishment retail account to the cashless wagering account utilizingone or more funding sources. It should be appreciated that, in certainembodiments, the system enables the player to enable or disable thesesystem imposed limitations.

In certain embodiments, the system provides one or more incentives to aplayer for utilizing the mobile device facilitated transfer of fundsfrom a gaming establishment retail account to a cashless wageringaccount. In these embodiments, if a gaming establishment retail accountincentive triggering event occurs in association with the mobile devicefacilitated transfer of funds from a gaming establishment retail accountto a cashless wagering account, the system provides one or moreincentives to the player, such as a good, a service or a modification toone or more aspects of the player's gaming session. For example, forevery $100 of non-cashable credits transferred from a gamingestablishment retail account to a cashless wagering account, the systemadds $20 of promotional credits to the cashless wagering account. Such aconfiguration encourages the use of the mobile device facilitatedtransfer of funds from a gaming establishment retail account to acashless wagering account as described herein.

In certain embodiments, in addition to funding a cashless wageringaccount with an amount of non-cashable credits drawn from a gamingestablishment retail account, the cashless wagering account isadditionally or alternatively funded in association with one or moreexternal accounts, such as one or more credit card accounts, one or moredebit card accounts and/or one or more third-party maintained accounts(e.g., one or more PayPal® accounts or Venmo® accounts). For example, asseen in FIG. 1A, the resort wallet 102 or enterprise wallet whichincludes one or more cashless wagering systems which maintain one ormore cashless wagering accounts and also includes one or more gamingestablishment retail systems which maintain one or more gamingestablishment retail accounts is associated with or is otherwise incommunication with one or more external financial institutions (i.e.,the Banking Network 110).

In certain embodiments, the cashless wagering account is associated witha gaming establishment or a group of gaming establishments, wherein theplayer establishes a cashless wagering account by a deposit of funds(such as at a kiosk) to be subsequently utilized in association with themobile device application. In other embodiments, the cashless wageringaccount is funded via a mobile device electronic fund transfer, suchusing Apple Pay™ or Android Pay™. In various embodiments, the systemutilizes a mobile device running a mobile device application, a kiosk,an EGM and/or a gaming establishment interface to facilitate thistransfer of funds from a third-party account.

In certain embodiments, the system enables funds to be deposited in acashless wagering account via drawing funds from a gaming establishmentcredit system which issues the player a line of credit or marker. Incertain other embodiments, the system includes one or more gamingestablishment fund management systems which are each associated with orotherwise maintain one or more gaming establishment fund managementaccounts for a player. In these embodiments, the gaming establishmentfund management system (which maintains a gaming establishment fundmanagement account for a player) is in communication with one or morecredit systems which each issue the player one or more lines of creditor markers, wherein prior to the funds drawn from the line of creditbeing transferred to a cashless wagering account, such funds must firstbe transferred to or otherwise established in the gaming establishmentfund management account via one or more lines of credits. In variousembodiments, the system utilizes a mobile device running a mobile deviceapplication, a kiosk, an EGM and/or a gaming establishment interface tofacilitate these transfer(s) of funds from the gaming establishmentcredit system.

In certain embodiments, the system enables funds to be deposited in acashless wagering account via an EGM. In certain embodiments, the systemenables a player that has an amount of cash to utilize an EGM to convertthe cash to an amount deposited into a cashless wagering account (whichmay be subsequently transferred back to the EGM utilizing a mobiledevice application). In other embodiments, the system enables funds tobe deposited in a cashless wagering account via an EGM that acceptsprinted ticket vouchers. In these embodiments, the system enables aplayer that has one or more printed ticket vouchers to utilize an EGM toconvert the printed ticket voucher to an amount deposited into acashless wagering account (which may be subsequently transferred back tothe EGM utilizing a mobile device application).

In certain embodiments, the system enables funds to be deposited in acashless wagering account via a gaming establishment interface, such asa casino desk. In certain embodiments, the system enables a player thathas an amount of cash to utilize a gaming establishment interface, suchas a casino desk to convert the cash to an amount deposited into acashless wagering account (which may be subsequently transferred to anEGM utilizing a mobile device application). In other embodiments, thesystem enables funds to be deposited in a cashless wagering account viaa gaming establishment interface that accepts printed ticket vouchers.In these embodiments, the system enables a player that has one or moreprinted ticket vouchers to utilize a gaming establishment interface toconvert the printed ticket voucher to an amount deposited into acashless wagering account (which may be subsequently transferred to anEGM utilizing a mobile device application).

In certain embodiments, the system enables funds to be deposited in acashless wagering account via a kiosk that accepts money. In certainembodiments, the system enables a player that has an amount of cash toutilize a kiosk to convert the cash to an amount deposited into acashless wagering account (which may be subsequently transferred to anEGM utilizing a mobile device application). In other embodiments, thesystem enables funds to be deposited in a cashless wagering account viaa kiosk that accepts printed ticket vouchers. In certain embodiments,the system enables a player that has one or more printed ticket vouchersto utilize a kiosk to convert the printed ticket voucher to an amountdeposited into a cashless wagering account (which may be subsequentlytransferred to an EGM utilizing a mobile device application).

In certain embodiments, the cashless wagering account is associated withfunds associated with one or more virtual ticket vouchers. In certainembodiments, the system enables a player associated with an amount ofvirtual ticket vouchers to utilize an EGM, a mobile device running amobile device application, a kiosk and/or a gaming establishmentinterface to convert the virtual ticket vouchers to an amount depositedinto a cashless wagering account.

In certain embodiments, the system enables a player to fund the cashlesswagering account independent of the mobile device and independent of themobile device application. In certain other embodiments, the systemenables a player to utilize a mobile device running a mobile deviceapplication to fund the cashless wagering account. More specifically andutilizing the example of a kiosk, in one embodiment, to utilize a mobiledevice and a kiosk to facilitate the funding of a cashless wageringaccount, the player wirelessly pairs or otherwise connects a mobiledevice with a kiosk. In one example embodiment, the player moves themobile device into the range of a wireless receiver of the kiosk. Thekiosk and the launched or activated mobile device application of themobile device negotiate a secure, authenticated connection with theproper functionality, versions and security settings. It should beappreciated that the kiosk wirelessly connects with the mobile devicerunning the mobile device application in the same or similar fashion tohow a mobile device is paired or connected with an EGM as describedherein.

After connecting the mobile device to the kiosk, the kiosk prompts theplayer to deposit an amount of funds into the kiosk. In one suchembodiment, the kiosk prompts the player to insert one or more billsinto a bill acceptor of the kiosk. In another such embodiment, the kioskadditionally or alternatively prompts the player to deposit a physicalticket voucher (associated with an amount of funds) into the kiosk. Inanother such embodiment, the kiosk additionally or alternatively promptsthe player to deposit a card associated with an external account, suchas a credit card or debit card into the kiosk. In another suchembodiment, the kiosk additionally or alternatively prompts the playerto enter information associated with an external account, such as acredit card account, one or more third-party maintained accounts (e.g.,one or more PayPal® accounts or Venmo® accounts) or a debit card accountinto the kiosk. In another such embodiment, the kiosk additionally oralternatively prompts the player to deposit an amount of funds into thekiosk using a mobile device electronic fund transfer, such using ApplePay™ or Android Pay™.

In one embodiment, after a first amount of funds is accepted, such asafter a first bill or unit of currency is accepted, by the kiosk, thekiosk and/or the mobile device application enable the player to transferthe deposited amount of funds (e.g., a “Load Phone Now” button) orcontinue to deposit additional amounts of funds with the kiosk. Inanother embodiment, for each amount of funds accepted by the kiosk, suchas for each bill or unit of currency accepted by the kiosk, a virtualticket voucher is created and deposited in the cashless wageringaccount.

In certain embodiments, upon receiving an amount of funds from theplayer and the player indicating to transfer the deposited amount offunds in association with the mobile device application, the kioskcommunicates with one or more servers, such as a cashless wageringserver, to transfer an amount of money to a cashless wagering account(to be drawn upon from the mobile device application as describedherein). In another such embodiment, upon receiving an amount of fundsfrom the player and the player indicating to transfer the depositedamount of funds in association with an account or balance associatedwith the mobile device application, the kiosk communicates with one ormore servers, such as a virtual ticket voucher server, to create avirtual ticket voucher associated with the amount of received currency.The system disclosed herein transfers the created virtual ticket voucherto the cashless wagering account.

It should be appreciated that while the above example embodiments aredescribed in relation to utilizing a mobile device to facilitate thetransferring one or more amounts of money or units of currency from akiosk to a cashless wagering account, such example embodiments may alsobe used to transfer, either as an isolated transaction or as part of anoperation mode of the EGM, one or more amounts of money or units ofcurrency from an EGM to a cashless wagering account and/or from a gamingestablishment interface, such as a casino desk, to a cashless wageringaccount.

In certain embodiments, the system includes an automatic reload featurewherein if a cashless wagering account falls below a threshold level,the system automatically transfers an amount from the external account,the gaming establishment retail account and/or the gaming establishmentaccount to the cashless wagering account. It should be appreciated that,in certain embodiments, the system enables the player to enable ordisable such an automatic reload feature.

Linking Mobile Device to EGM

In various embodiments, in addition to establishing an amount of fundsin one or more accounts of the system, as described above, the systemdisclosed enables funds to be transferred between different componentswithin the system via the utilization of a mobile device. In theseembodiments, prior to enabling a player to take any action related tothe gaming system (such as using a mobile device to facilitate atransfer of funds from account to account, from account to accountand/or from account to account), a pairing or linkage occurs between themobile device and the EGM. The pairing or linkage between the mobiledevice and the EGM occurs via one or more applications being run orexecuted on the mobile device.

In certain embodiments, the mobile device application utilized totransfer funds to and from an EGM is a location based digital walletenabled application, such as a Passbook-enabled or Wallet-enabledapplication, which is accessible when the player enters a gamingestablishment. In certain embodiments, the mobile device applicationutilized to transfer funds to and from an EGM is downloaded to themobile device from an application store. In certain embodiments, themobile device application utilized to transfer funds to and from an EGMis downloaded to the mobile device from one or more websites affiliatedwith the gaming establishment (which are accessible directly by theplayer and/or by a link opened when the player scans a QR codeassociated with the EGM).

In certain embodiments, after a player has opened an application on amobile device and selected an action to be performed, the systemdetermines if the mobile device application is associated with an activeauthorization token previously created by the system. In theseembodiments, an authorization token is a time-based token which expiresafter a designated period of time and which is associated with anadditional level of player authentication beyond a player's applicationusername and application password.

If the system determines that the application is not associated with anactive authorization token previously created by the system, the mobiledevice application prompts the player to provide identifyinginformation, such as a personal identification number or biometricidentifier. The mobile device application stores the providedidentifying information as mobile device encrypted data. Following theplayer providing identifying information, the mobile device applicationprompts the player to cause the mobile device to engage the EGM (or acomponent of the EGM), such as prompting the player to tap the mobiledevice to a designated portion of the EGM. It should be appreciated thatany reference herein to a player tapping the mobile device to adesignated portion of the EGM (or a component of the EGM) may or may notinclude the player pressing a fingerprint scanner (if the mobile deviceis equipped with such a fingerprint scanner) while concurrently engagingthe EGM (or a component of the EGM). In other embodiments, the mobiledevice application verifies the identifying information of the player bycommunicating with a verification/authentication server over one or morewireless communication protocols, such as WiFi protocol, a cellularcommunication protocol (e.g., 3G or LTE), to obtain the activeauthorization token.

In certain embodiments, following the player causing the mobile deviceto engage the EGM (e.g., the player taps the mobile device to a playertracking card reader or other designated location(s) of the EGM), themobile device application communicates, via a wireless communicationprotocol, the provided identifying information and the requested actionto be performed to the EGM (or to a component associated with the EGM).For example, upon the player tapping the mobile device to a playertracking card reader or other designated location(s) of the EGM (orotherwise moving the mobile device to within a designated distance ofthe player tracking card read or other designated locations(s) of theEGM), the mobile device application sends the identifying informationand the requested action to a component of a gaming establishmentmanagement system located inside the EGM (i.e., a component of the EGM),such as a NexGen® player tracking component of an IGT Advantage® system.NexGen® and IGT Advantage® are trademarks of IGT, the Applicant of thepresent application.

Following the communication of the identifying information and therequested action to the EGM (or a component associated with the EGM),the system determines if the identifying information is valid. Forexample, a designated gaming system component configured to operate witha player tracking system determines whether the identifying informationis valid.

If the system determines that the identifying information is invalid,the system communicates an invalid identifying information response tothe mobile device. For example, an identifying information statusmessage is communicated to the mobile device which reports whether theidentifying information is valid or invalid. The mobile deviceapplication then displays one or more messages regarding the invalididentifying information and prompts the player to provide identifyinginformation, such as a personal identification number or biometricidentifier. In certain such embodiments, if the mobile device receives acommunication that the identifying information is invalid (oralternatively in association with the initial creation of a token) andif the mobile device includes a fingerprint scanner, the mobile deviceapplication prompts the player to press the fingerprint scanner whileengaging the EGM, such as tapping the mobile device to a designatedportion of the EGM.

On the other hand, if the system determines that the identifyinginformation is valid, the system creates an authorization token. Thesystem associates the authorization token with a timestamp of when theauthorization token will expire. In certain embodiments, a cashlesssystem includes a key distribution center which generates a session keyto encrypt all cashless messages. The session key is rotatedperiodically at a configurable rate from 1 hour to 24 hours. In theseembodiments, the system utilizes this session key to sign the token dataand create a token. As such, the token time-to-live will be less than orequal to the session key rotation period. In other embodiments, suchauthorization tokens are managed utilizing software (and not a keydistribution center).

In certain embodiments, the authorization token expires after adesignated period of time as an additional level of security in thetransfer of fund data to/from the EGM which is facilitated the mobiledevice. Such a designated amount of time which an authorization tokenremains valid enables the player to move from one EGM to another EGMand, as described below, transfer funds to/from each EGM and a cashlesswagering account, without having to reprovide such identifyinginformation each time the player switches EGMs. That is, the mobiledevice application disclosed herein is configured to communicate withone or more EGMs (without having to reauthenticate itself repeatedly)during the designated amount of time which the authorization tokenremains valid.

Following the creation of an authorization token, the systemcommunicates the created authorization token to the mobile device, suchas via one or more messages including the created authorization token,for storage by the mobile device application and proceeds with executingone or more of the requested actions and communicating a requestedaction response to the mobile device. For example, upon the creation ofthe authorization token, the component of a gaming establishmentmanagement system located inside the EGM (i.e., a component of the EGM),such as a NexGen® player tracking component of an IGT Advantage® system,communicates the created authorization token to the mobile device andproceeds with executing the requested action.

On the other hand, following a determination that the mobile deviceapplication is associated with a previously created and storedauthentication token, the mobile device application prompts the playerto cause the mobile device to engage the EGM, such as prompting theplayer to tap the mobile device to a designated portion of the EGM.

Following the player causing the mobile device to engage the EGM (e.g.,the player taps the mobile device to a player tracking card reader orother designated location(s) of the EGM), the mobile device applicationcommunicates, via a wireless communication protocol, the previouslystored authorization token and the requested action to be performed tothe EGM (or to a component associated with the EGM). For example, uponthe player tapping the mobile device to a player tracking card reader orother designated location(s) of the EGM, the mobile device applicationsends the stored authorization token and the requested action to acomponent of a gaming establishment management system located inside theEGM (i.e., a component of the EGM), such as a NexGen® player trackingcomponent of an IGT Advantage® system.

Following the communication of the stored authorization token and therequested action to the EGM or a component associated with the EGM, thesystem determines if the communicated authorization token is stillvalid. For example, a gaming system component configured to operate witha player tracking system determines whether the authorization token isvalid (i.e., active and non-expired).

If the system determines that the communication authorization token isinvalid, the system communicates an invalid authorization token responseto the mobile device. The mobile device application then displays one ormore messages regarding the invalid authorization token and prompts theplayer to provide identifying information, such as a personalidentification number or biometric identifier, to obtain anotherauthentication token.

On the other hand, if the system determines that the storedauthorization token is valid, the system proceeds with executing therequested action. For example, upon the determination that thecommunicated authorization token is valid, the component of a gamingestablishment management system located inside the EGM proceeds withexecuting the requested action and communicates a requested actionresponse to the mobile device.

In certain embodiments, the system enables a player to interact with theEGM via the mobile device as described herein, without having tocontinually reengage the EGM with the mobile device for each requestedaction. In these embodiments, after initially establishing a secureconnection with the EGM, subsequent interactions between the mobiledevice application and the EGM occur without any subsequent physicalinteraction between the mobile device and the EGM. That is, to avoidhaving the player retrieve the mobile device and repeat the physicaloperation of engaging the EGM with the mobile device, certainembodiments enable the player to execute one or more functions withoutrepeating the above-described physical operation of engaging the EGMwith the mobile device. In certain such embodiments, the mobile deviceapplication utilizes one or more display devices of the EGM to displayto the player information and/or player selectable prompts which areotherwise displayable via the display device of the mobile device.

In certain other embodiments, for each interaction or requested actionbetween the EGM and the mobile device described herein, the systemrequires the player to reengage the EGM with the mobile device toreestablish or confirm the pairing between the EGM and the mobiledevice. In certain other embodiments, for each interaction between theEGM and the mobile device that occur a designated amount of time afterthe last engagement of the EGM with the mobile device, the systemrequires the player to reengage the EGM with the mobile device toreestablish or confirm the pairing between the EGM and the mobiledevice.

Utilizing Paired Mobile Device Application at EGM

In various embodiments, after pairing the mobile device with the EGM (ora component of the EGM), the mobile device application communicates oneor more requested actions to be performed to the EGM. As describedbelow, such requested actions generally pertain to an action associatedwith a player account, an action associated with an initiation of atransfer of funds from an external account (and any associatedestablishment and/or drawing upon a line of credit), an actionassociated with an initiation of a transfer of funds between gamingestablishment accounts, an action associated with an initiation of atransfer of monetary funds, an action associated with an initiation of atransfer of non-monetary funds (i.e., non-cashable credits which may notbe otherwise directly redeemable for cash), an action associated with atransfer of virtual ticket vouchers, or an action associated with atransfer of promotional credits. It should be appreciated that whilecertain data or information pertaining to one or more of the requestedactions are communicated from an EGM (or a component of an EGM, such asa component of a gaming establishment management system supported by orotherwise located inside the EGM) to a mobile device, such data orinformation may additionally or alternatively be communicated: (i) fromone or more servers to a mobile device via one or more wirelesscommunication protocols, or (ii) from an EGM to one or more servers viaone or more wireless communication protocols and then from one or moreservers to a mobile device via one or more wireless communicationprotocols.

It should be further appreciated that any functionality or processdescribed herein may be implemented via one or more servers, an EGM, oneor more components of an EGM (such as a component of a gamingestablishment management system (e.g., a player tracking unit) supportedby or otherwise located inside the EGM), or a mobile device application.For example, while certain data or information described herein isexplained as being communicated from an EGM or a component of an EGM(such as a component of a gaming establishment management system (e.g.,a player tracking unit) supported by or otherwise located inside theEGM) to a mobile device via one or more wireless communicationprotocols, such data or information may additionally or alternatively becommunicated from one or more servers to a mobile device via one or morewireless communication protocols. Accordingly: (i) while certainfunctions, features or processes are described herein as being performedby an EGM, such functions, features or processes may alternatively beperformed by one or more servers, or one or more mobile deviceapplications, or one or more components of the EGM (such as a componentof a gaming establishment management system (e.g., a player trackingunit) supported by or otherwise located inside the EGM), (ii) whilecertain functions, features or processes are described herein as beingperformed by one or more mobile device applications, such functions,features or processes may alternatively be performed by one or moreservers, or one or more EGMs, or one or more components of the EGM (suchas a component of a gaming establishment management system (e.g., aplayer tracking unit) supported by or otherwise located inside the EGM),(iii) while certain functions, features or processes are describedherein as being performed by one or more servers, such functions,features or processes may alternatively be performed by one or moreEGMs, or one or more mobile device applications, or one or morecomponents of the EGM (such as a component of a gaming establishmentmanagement system (e.g., a player tracking unit) supported by orotherwise located inside the EGM)), and (iv) while certain functions,features or processes are described herein as being performed by one ormore components of an EGM (such as a component of a gaming establishmentmanagement system (e.g., a player tracking unit) supported by orotherwise located inside the EGM), such functions, features or processesmay alternatively be performed by one or more EGMs, or one or moremobile device applications, or one or more servers.

Player Accounts

In certain embodiments, the action to be performed includes enabling theplayer to log into a casino loyalty account, such as a player trackingaccount, via a wireless communication protocol, utilizing the mobiledevice application. In certain such embodiments, following the launchingof the mobile device application, such as following the player selectingan image associated with an electronic casino loyalty account cardstored via a digital wallet application or following the mobile deviceapplication retrieving data associated with a player loyalty accountstored via a digital wallet application, the mobile device applicationprompts the player to cause the mobile device to engage the EGM, such asprompting the player to tap the mobile device to a card reader or otherdesignated location(s) of the EGM. After such engagement (or after thelaunching of the mobile device application if no mobile device to EGMengagement is required), the mobile device application communicates, viaa wireless communication protocol, player loyalty account data stored bythe mobile device to the EGM (or a component of the EGM). The EGMproceeds with operating with a player loyalty system (i.e., a playertracking system) to log the player into the player loyalty account atthat EGM. For example, as seen in FIG. 2A, the mobile device application220 of the mobile device 210 proceeds with displaying a confirmationmessage that the player is logged into the player loyalty account 230 a.Thereafter, any game play activity is associated with this playerloyalty account (just as if the player would have inserted a physicalplayer tracking card into a player tracking card reader of the EGM).

In certain embodiments, the action to be performed includes enabling theplayer to log out of a casino loyalty account, such as a player trackingaccount, via a wireless communication protocol, utilizing the mobiledevice application. In different embodiments, upon receiving one or more“cash out” inputs from the player, if the system determines that noactivity has occurred for a designated amount of time, or if the systemdetermines that another player is attempting to log onto the EGM, themobile device application facilitates a logging out of the casinoloyalty account. Such logging out of the casino loyalty account isassociated with a termination of the player's current gaming session.Specifically, the EGM proceeds with operating with a player loyaltysystem (i.e., a player tracking system) to log the player out of theplayer loyalty account at that EGM to complete the player trackingsession at the EGM. For example, as seen in FIG. 2E, the mobile deviceapplication 220 of the mobile device 210 proceeds with displaying anicon 230 e which enables the player to log out of the player loyaltyaccount.

In certain embodiments, the action to be performed additionally oralternatively includes enabling the player to log into a cashlesswagering account, via a wireless communication protocol, utilizing themobile device application. In certain such embodiments, such as seen inFIG. 2D, following the launching of the mobile device application, suchas following the player selecting an image associated with an electroniccasino loyalty account card stored via a digital wallet application orfollowing the mobile device application retrieving data associated witha cashless wagering account stored via a digital wallet application, themobile device application prompts the player to cause the mobile deviceto engage the EGM, such as prompting the player to tap the mobile deviceto a card reader or other designated location(s) of the EGM. After suchengagement (or after the launching of the mobile device application ifno mobile device to EGM engagement is required), the mobile deviceapplication communicates, via a wireless communication protocol, playercashless wagering account data stored by the mobile device to the EGM.The EGM proceeds with operating with the cashless wagering system to logthe player into a cashless wagering account associated with the player.In one embodiment, the system determines a balance of the cashlesswagering account (in terms of both cashable credits and non-cashablecredits) associated with the player and causes the EGM to communicate,via one or more wireless communication protocols, the determinedcashless wagering account balance to the mobile device. In anotherembodiment, the system determines balance(s) of the cashless wageringaccount (in terms of cashable credits and non-cashable credits)associated with the player and communicates, via one or more wirelesscommunication protocols, the determined cashless wagering accountbalance(s) to the mobile device. For example, as seen in FIG. 2B, themobile device application 220 of the mobile device 210 proceeds withdisplaying the determined amount of cashable credits in the cashlesswagering account balance and the determined amount of non-cashablecredits in the cashless wagering account 230 b.

Transfer of Funds From External Account to Gaming Establishment Account

In certain embodiments, the action to be performed additionally oralternatively includes enabling the player to transfer funds from anexternal account, authorizing the establishment of a line of credit (ifthe funds to be transferred from the external funding source whichmaintains the external account takes more than a designated period oftime) and/or drawing upon the line of credit. Put differently,facilitated by the mobile device application, the system enables theplayer to fund one or more accounts from one or more external sourcesand access one or more lines of credits based on the establishment anddrawing down of a line of credit.

Transfer of Funds Between Different Accounts

In certain embodiments, the action to be performed additionally oralternatively includes enabling the player to transfer funds betweendifferent accounts facilitated by the mobile device application. Thatis, in addition to establishing an amount of funds in one or moreaccounts of the system, the system disclosed enables funds to betransferred between different components within the system. Putdifferently, after an amount of funds are deposited from a fundingsource into a maintained account, the system enables such funds to besubsequently transferred to another account or destination within thesystem.

In these embodiments, following the player's decision to transfer anamount of funds from a first account or balance associated with a firstsystem component to a second account or balance associated with a secondsystem component, the system determines whether to authorize thetransfer of the determined amount of funds. If the system determines notto authorize the determined amount of funds, the system communicates adenial of fund transfer to the player. On the other hand, if the systemdetermines to authorize the determined amount of funds, the first systemcomponent updates the first account (to reflect a reduction of thedetermined amount of funds) and communicates an authorization to thesecond system component. The second system component then increases abalance of available funds of the second account or balance by thetransferred amount of funds.

In certain embodiments, the system utilizes a mobile device tofacilitate the transfer of funds from a cashless wagering account to agaming establishment retail account. In these embodiments, the transferof funds from the cashless wagering account to the gaming establishmentretail account occurs via one or more applications being run or executedon the mobile device. That is, in addition to the below-describedactions (e.g., utilizing the mobile device application to facilitate thetransfer of funds from the cashless wagering account to the EGM), to beperformed which may be selected via the mobile device application, themobile device application enables the player to request that an amountof funds be transferred from the cashless wagering account to the gamingestablishment retail account.

It should be appreciated that in various embodiments the system limitsthe transfer of funds from a cashless wagering account to a gamingestablishment retail account to funds that can be redeemed for cash,such as cashable credits and/or non-restricted promotional credits. Thatis, to prevent a player from improperly converting non-cashable creditsheld in a cashless wagering account to products and/or services, thesystem enables the player to utilize cashable credits (i.e., creditsthat can be directly converted to cash) to load funds from theircashless wagering account to their gaming establishment retail account(which are then usable for goods and/or services, but not otherwiseredeemable for cash). In certain embodiments, this configurationprovides just-in-time funding of the gaming establishment retail accountto enable the player to make purchases at different point-of-salelocations associated with the gaming establishment retail network.

Following the player's decision to transfer an amount of funds (in theform of cashable credits) from a cashless wagering account to a gamingestablishment retail account, the cashless wagering system determineswhether to authorize the transfer of the determined amount of funds. Ifthe cashless wagering system determines not to authorize the determinedamount of funds, the cashless wagering system communicates a denial tothe mobile device application, wherein the mobile device applicationdisplays a denial of fund transfer to the player.

On the other hand, if the cashless wagering system determines toauthorize the determined amount of funds, the cashless wagering systemupdates the cashless wagering account associated with the player (toreflect a reduction of the determined amount of cashable funds) andcommunicates an authorization to the gaming establishment retail system.The gaming establishment retail system then increases a balance ofavailable funds of the gaming establishment retail account by thetransferred amount of funds. The mobile device application proceeds withdisplaying an updated gaming establishment retail account balance aswell as an updated cashless wagering account balance.

In certain embodiments, the system includes an automatic reload featurewherein if a gaming establishment retail account falls below a thresholdlevel, the system automatically transfers an amount from the externalaccount, the cashless wagering account and/or the gaming establishmentaccount to the gaming establishment retail account. It should beappreciated that, in certain embodiments, the system enables the playerto enable or disable such an automatic reload feature.

In operation, following the above-described establishment of a gamingestablishment retail account and the above-described funding of thegaming establishment retail account, the player presents a retail walletidentity (i.e., a physical card associated with the gaming establishmentretail account or a mobile device running a mobile device applicationassociated with the gaming establishment retail account) at anapplicable terminal of the point-of-sale system within or otherwiseassociated with the gaming establishment for the purchase of goodsand/or services. The point-of-sale system then communicates with thegaming establishment retail wallet system to confirm that the gamingestablishment retail account has adequate funds for the intendedpurchase. If the gaming establishment retail wallet system confirms thepresence of adequate funds in the gaming establishment retail account,the point-of-sale system authorizes the sale of the goods and/orservices and communicates data to the gaming establishment retail walletsystem to deduct the price of the purchased goods and/or services fromthe gaming establishment retail account. On the other hand, if thegaming establishment retail wallet system indicates that the gamingestablishment retail account lacks adequate funds for the purchase, thepoint-of-sale system denies this sale transaction of the goods and/orservices using the gaming establishment retail account.

Transfer of Cashable Funds From Cashless Wagering Account to EGM

In certain embodiments, the action to be performed additionally oralternatively includes enabling the player to facilitate the transfer ofcashable funds from a cashless wagering account to the EGM utilizing themobile device application.

In certain embodiments, following the launching of the mobile deviceapplication, such as following the player selecting an image associatedwith an electronic casino loyalty account card stored via a digitalwallet application or following the mobile device application retrievingdata associated with a cashless wagering account stored via a digitalwallet application, the mobile device application determines an amountof funds to be transferred from the cashless wagering account to theEGM.

In one embodiment, the mobile device application enables the player toselect an amount of cashable credits to be transferred from a listing ofavailable amounts of funds to be transferred from the cashless wageringaccount to the EGM. In different embodiments, the listing of availableamounts to be transferred is previously selected by the player, selectedby a gaming establishment or selected by a third-party. In certainembodiments, the mobile device application enables the player, a gamingestablishment and/or a third-party to modify the listing of availableamount of funds. In another embodiment, the mobile device applicationdetermines the listing of available amount of funds based on one or morecharacteristics associated with the player, such as the player's prioramounts transferred, the player's wagering history, and/or the player'sstatus. In another embodiment, the mobile device application determinesthe listing of available amount of funds based on one or morecharacteristics associated with the EGM, such as based on thedenomination, game type, minimum bet and/or maximum available wageramount of the EGM. In a first example, if the EGM is a collection of $1poker games, then the listing of available amounts displayed are $40,$80, $120, In a second example, if the EGM is a penny slots game, thenthe listing of available amounts displayed are $20, $40, $60.

In one embodiment, the mobile device application includes more than onelisting of available amounts of cashable funds to be transferred. Inthis embodiment, the mobile device application includes one listing ofavailable amounts for an initial transfer of funds to the EGM for agaming session (i.e., a first listing of amounts to initially establisha credit balance of an EGM) and another listing of available amounts fora subsequent transfer of funds to the EGM for an existing gaming session(i.e., a second listing of amounts to modify a previously establishedcredit balance of the EGM).

In another embodiment, the mobile device application determines adefault amount of cashable funds to be transferred from the cashlesswagering account to the EGM. In one such embodiment, the default amountof funds includes the last amount of funds transferred from the cashlesswagering account to the EGM. In another such embodiment, the defaultamount of funds includes the last amount of funds transferred from theEGM to the cashless wagering account. The mobile device applicationdisplays to the player such a default amount of funds to be transferred.

In different embodiments, the default amount to be transferred ispreviously selected by the player, selected by a gaming establishment orselected by a third-party. In certain embodiments, the mobile deviceapplication enables the player, a gaming establishment and/or athird-party to modify the default amount of funds displayed by themobile device application. In another embodiment, the mobile deviceapplication determines the default amount of funds based on one or morecharacteristics associated with the player, such as the player's prioramounts transferred, the player's wagering history, the player's creditbalance, or the player's status.

In one embodiment, the mobile device application includes more than onedefault amount of cashable funds to be transferred. In this embodiment,the mobile device application includes one default amount for an initialtransfer of funds to the EGM for a gaming session (i.e., a first defaultamount to initially establish a credit balance of an EGM) and anotherdefault amount for a subsequent transfer of funds to the EGM for anexisting gaming session (i.e., a second default amount to modify apreviously established credit balance of the EGM).

In certain embodiments, following the determination of an amount ofcashable funds to be transferred from the cashless wagering account tothe EGM, the mobile device application prompts the player to cause themobile device to engage the EGM, such as prompting the player to tap themobile device to a player tracking card reader or other designatedlocation(s) of the EGM. After such engagement (or after thedetermination of an amount of funds to be transferred if no mobiledevice to EGM engagement is required), the mobile device applicationcommunicates, via a wireless communication protocol, data associatedwith the determined amount of funds to be transferred from the cashlesswagering account to the EGM. The EGM proceeds with operating with acashless wagering system to log the player into a cashless wageringaccount associated with the player (if necessary) and request thedetermined amount of funds to be transferred from the cashless wageringaccount to the EGM.

In another embodiment, rather than prompting the player to engage theEGM with the mobile device and the subsequent engagement of the EGM withthe mobile device, the mobile device application automaticallydetermines to transfer a default amount of funds, such as the lasttransferred amount of funds, from the cashless wagering account to theEGM. In this embodiment, the mobile device application communicates, viaa wireless communication protocol, data associated with the determinedamount of funds to be transferred from the cashless wagering account tothe EGM. The EGM proceeds with operating with a cashless wagering systemto log the player into a cashless wagering account associated with theplayer (if necessary) and request the determined amount of funds to betransferred from the cashless wagering account to the EGM.

Following the EGM requesting the determined amount of cashable funds,the cashless wagering system determines whether to authorize thetransfer of the determined amount of funds. If the cashless wageringsystem determines not to authorize the determined amount of funds, thecashless wagering system communicates a denial to the EGM and/or themobile device application, wherein the EGM and/or mobile deviceapplication display a denial of funds transfer to the player.

On the other hand, if the cashless wagering system determines toauthorize the determined amount of cashable funds, the cashless wageringsystem updates the cashless wagering account associated with the playerand communicates an authorization to the EGM. The cashless wageringsystem reduces a balance of the cashless wagering account by the reducedamount of cashable funds. The EGM proceeds with updating a creditbalance of the EGM to account for the determined amount of funds. Incertain embodiments, the EGM further proceeds with communicating atransfer of cashable funds confirmation to the mobile device, whereinthe mobile device application displays a confirmation of the transfer ofthe amount of cashable funds and/or the updated credit balance of theEGM. Such a transfer amount of funds is available for wagering by theplayer or transferring to another account, such as a gamingestablishment retail account or a gaming establishment fund managementaccount.

In certain embodiments, the action to be performed additionally oralternatively includes automatically transferring cashable funds from acashless wagering account to the EGM utilizing the mobile deviceapplication. In one such embodiment, the gaming system includes anautomatic reload feature wherein if a credit balance of the EGM fallsbelow a threshold level, the mobile device automatically transfers anamount of funds from the cashless wagering account to the EGM tofacilitate additional wagering opportunities. It should be appreciatedthat, in certain embodiments, the gaming system enables the player toenable or disable such an automatic reload feature.

It should additionally be appreciated that the mobile device facilitatedEGM to/from cashless wagering account fund data transfers of the presentdisclosure may occur in addition to or as an alternative from cash-basedfund transfers and/or ticket voucher-based fund transfers. In one suchembodiment, a credit balance of an EGM of the present disclosure isfunded via any of a mobile device facilitated fund transfer, acash-based fund transfer or a ticket voucher-based fund transfer. Inanother embodiment, a credit balance of an EGM of the present disclosureis cashed out via any of a mobile device facilitated fund transfer, acash-based fund transfer or a ticket voucher-based fund transfer. Inanother embodiment, a credit balance of an EGM of the present disclosureis funded via a mobile device facilitated fund transfer or a cash-basedfund transfer (but is not funded via any ticket voucher-based fundtransfer). In another embodiment, a credit balance of an EGM of thepresent disclosure is cashed out via a mobile device facilitated fundtransfer or a cash-based fund transfer (but is not cashed out via anyticket voucher-based fund transfer). In another embodiment, a creditbalance of an EGM of the present disclosure is funded via a mobiledevice facilitated fund transfer or a ticket voucher-based fund transfer(but is not funded via any cash-based fund transfer). In anotherembodiment, a credit balance of an EGM of the present disclosure iscashed out via a mobile device facilitated fund transfer or a ticketvoucher-based fund transfer (but is not cashed out via any cash-basedfund transfer). In another embodiment, a credit balance of an EGM of thepresent disclosure is funded via a mobile device facilitated fundtransfer (but is not funded via a cash-based fund transfer nor a ticketvoucher-based fund transfer). In another embodiment, a credit balance ofan EGM of the present disclosure is cashed out via a mobile devicefacilitated fund transfer (but is not cashed out via a cash-based fundtransfer nor a ticket voucher-based fund transfer).

Transfer of Cashable Credits From EGM to Cashless Wagering Account

In certain embodiments, the action to be performed additionally oralternatively includes enabling the player to transfer cashable fundsfrom an EGM to a cashless wagering account facilitated by the mobiledevice application. That is, the system of this disclosure enables aplayer to transfer winnings from the EGM back to a cashless wageringaccount in association with the mobile device application.

In certain embodiments, following the launching of the mobile deviceapplication, such as following the player selecting an image associatedwith an electronic casino loyalty account card stored via a digitalwallet application or following the mobile device application retrievingdata associated with a cashless wagering account stored via a digitalwallet application, and receiving one or more “cash out” inputs from theplayer, the mobile device application determines an amount of funds tobe transferred from the EGM to the cashless wagering account.

In one embodiment, the mobile device application enables the player toselect an amount to be transferred from the EGM to the cashless wageringaccount. In one such embodiment, the mobile device application enablesthe player to select a portion of the credit balance of the EGM (i.e.,less than the entire credit balance) to be transferred from the EGM tothe cashless wagering account. In various examples, the mobile deviceapplication automatically selects an amount of any winnings (i.e., anamount of the credit balance over the initial credit balance), an amountof winnings over a designated amount, an amount of a last win (i.e., anaward amount associated with the last played game) or an amount of alast win over a designated amount (i.e., an award amount associated withthe last played game over a designated award amount) to be transferredfrom the EGM to the cashless wagering account. In another embodiment,the mobile device application determines to transfer the credit balanceof the EGM from the EGM to the cashless wagering account.

In certain embodiments, following the determination of an amount ofcashable funds to be transferred from the EGM to the cashless wageringaccount, the mobile device application prompts the player to cause themobile device to engage the EGM, such as prompting the player to tap themobile device to a player tracking card reader or other designatedlocation(s) of the EGM.

In certain other embodiments, the system determines to facilitate thetransfer of cashable funds from the EGM to the cashless wagering accountindependent of any input by the player and/or independent of anyengagement between the mobile device and the EGM. In one suchembodiment, if the system determines that no activity has occurred for adesignated amount of time, as a precautionary measure, the systemtransfers the credit balance of the EGM from the EGM to the cashlesswagering account used to transfer funds to the EGM. In anotherembodiment, if the system determines that another player is attemptingto log onto the EGM, as a precautionary measure, the system transfersthe credit balance of the EGM from the EGM to the cashless wageringaccount used to transfer funds to the EGM. Such transfers of the creditbalance to the cashless wagering account is associated with atermination of the player's current gaming session.

After any engagement between the mobile device and the EGM (or after thedetermination of an amount of funds to be transferred if no mobiledevice to EGM engagement is required), the mobile device applicationcommunicates, via a wireless communication protocol, data associatedwith the determined amount of cashable funds to be transferred from theEGM to the cashless wagering account. The EGM proceeds with operatingwith a cashless wagering system to log the player into a cashlesswagering account associated with the player (or confirm that the playerremains logged into the cashless wagering account) and request thedetermined amount of funds to be transferred from the EGM to thecashless wagering account. Following such a request, the EGM proceedswith updating a credit balance of the EGM to account for the determinedamount of cashable funds transferred from the EGM to the cashlesswagering account. The cashless wagering system additionally updates thecashless wagering account associated with the player (i.e., the cashlesswagering system adds the determined amount of cashable funds to thecashless wagering account) and communicates a confirmation to the EGM.The EGM further proceeds with communicating a transfer of fundsconfirmation to the mobile device, wherein the mobile device applicationdisplays a confirmation of the transfer of the amount of funds and/orthe updated credit balance of the EGM. Such a transferred amount offunds is available in the player's cashless wagering account to betransferred to another EGM or transferred to a gaming establishmentretail account as described here.

In certain embodiments, as described above, the cashless wageringaccount is associated with one or more external accounts, such as one ormore credit card accounts, one or more debit card accounts and/or one ormore third-party maintained accounts (e.g., one or more PayPal® accountsor Venmo® accounts). In certain such embodiments, the gaming systemenables a player to transfer an amount of funds to such an externalaccount. For example, after a player utilizes the mobile deviceapplication to “cash out” an amount of winnings from the EGM to thecashless wagering account, the system enables the player to proceed withtransferring, facilitated by the mobile device application, part or allof the amount of winnings to one or more external accounts.

In certain embodiments, the action to be performed additionally oralternatively includes automatically transferring funds from the EGM toa cashless wagering account utilizing the mobile device application. Inone such embodiment, the gaming system includes an automatic “cash out”feature wherein if a credit balance of the EGM reaches above a thresholdlevel, the mobile device automatically transfers an amount of funds fromthe EGM to the cashless wagering account. Such an automatic “cash out”feature is associated with a termination of the player's current gamingsession. It should be appreciated that, in certain embodiments, thegaming system enables the player to enable or disable such an automatic“cash out” feature.

Transfer of Non-Cashable Funds From Cashless Wagering Account to EGM

In certain embodiments, the action to be performed additionally oralternatively includes transferring non-cashable credits from thecashless wagering account to the EGM utilizing the mobile deviceapplication. That is, certain of the actions facilitated by the mobiledevice running the mobile device application include the transfer ofnon-cashable credits (i.e., credits which may not be otherwise directlyredeemable for cash, but any winnings from any games played funded bysuch non-cashable credits being redeemable for cash) from the cashlesswagering account to the EGM.

In certain such embodiments, following the launching of the mobiledevice application, such as following the player selecting an imageassociated with an electronic casino loyalty account card stored via adigital wallet application or following the mobile device applicationretrieving data associated with a cashless wagering account stored via adigital wallet application, the mobile device application determines anamount of non-cashable funds to be transferred from the cashlesswagering account to the EGM.

In one embodiment, the mobile device application enables the player toselect to transfer the amount of non-cashable credits from the cashlesswagering account to the EGM. For example, as seen in FIG. 2C, the mobiledevice application 220 of the mobile device 210 proceeds with enablingthe player to make an input 232 to confirm that they want their currentbalance of non-cashable credits to be transferred from the cashlesswagering account to the EGM.

In one embodiment, the mobile device application enables the player toselect an amount of non-cashable credits to be transferred from alisting of available amounts of funds to be transferred from thecashless wagering account to the EGM. In different embodiments, thelisting of available amounts of non-cashable credits to be transferredis previously selected by the player, selected by a gaming establishmentor selected by a third-party. In certain embodiments, the mobile deviceapplication enables the player, a gaming establishment and/or athird-party to modify the listing of available amounts of non-cashablefunds. In another embodiment, the mobile device application determinesthe listing of available amount of funds based on one or morecharacteristics associated with the player, such as the player's prioramounts transferred, the player's wagering history, and/or the player'sstatus. In another embodiment, the mobile device application determinesthe listing of available amount of funds based on one or morecharacteristics associated with the EGM, such as based on thedenomination, game type, minimum bet and/or maximum available wageramount of the EGM.

In one embodiment, the mobile device application includes more than onelisting of available amounts of non-cashable funds to be transferred. Inthis embodiment, the mobile device application includes one listing ofavailable amounts for an initial transfer of funds to the EGM for agaming session (i.e., a first listing of amounts to initially establisha credit balance of an EGM) and another listing of available amounts fora subsequent transfer of funds to the EGM for an existing gaming session(i.e., a second listing of amounts to modify a previously establishedcredit balance of the EGM).

In another embodiment, the mobile device application determines adefault amount of non-cashable funds to be transferred from the cashlesswagering account to the EGM. In one such embodiment, the default amountof funds includes the last amount of funds transferred from the cashlesswagering account to the EGM. In another such embodiment, the defaultamount of funds includes the last amount of funds transferred from theEGM to the cashless wagering account. The mobile device applicationdisplays to the player such a default amount of funds to be transferred.

In different embodiments, the default amount to be transferred ispreviously selected by the player, selected by a gaming establishment orselected by a third-party. In certain embodiments, the mobile deviceapplication enables the player, a gaming establishment and/or athird-party to modify the default amount of non-cashable funds displayedby the mobile device application. In another embodiment, the mobiledevice application determines the default amount of funds based on oneor more characteristics associated with the player, such as the player'sprior amounts transferred, the player's wagering history, the player'scredit balance, or the player's status.

In one embodiment, the mobile device application includes more than onedefault amount of non-cashable funds to be transferred. In thisembodiment, the mobile device application includes one default amountfor an initial transfer of funds to the EGM for a gaming session (i.e.,a first default amount to initially establish a credit balance of anEGM) and another default amount for a subsequent transfer of funds tothe EGM for an existing gaming session (i.e., a second default amount tomodify a previously established credit balance of the EGM).

In certain embodiments, following the determination of an amount ofnon-cashable funds to be transferred from the cashless wagering accountto the EGM, the mobile device application prompts the player to causethe mobile device to engage the EGM, such as prompting the player to tapthe mobile device to a player tracking card reader or other designatedlocation(s) of the EGM. After such engagement (or after thedetermination of an amount of funds to be transferred if no mobiledevice to EGM engagement is required), the mobile device applicationcommunicates, via a wireless communication protocol, data associatedwith the determined amount of non-cashable funds to be transferred fromthe cashless wagering account to the EGM. The EGM proceeds withoperating with the cashless wagering system to log the player into acashless wagering account associated with the player (if necessary) andrequest the determined amount of non-cashable funds to be transferredfrom the cashless wagering account to the EGM.

In another embodiment, rather than prompting the player to engage theEGM with the mobile device and the subsequent engagement of the EGM withthe mobile device, the mobile device application automaticallydetermines to transfer a default amount of non-cashable funds, such asthe last transferred amount of funds, from the cashless wagering accountto the EGM. In this embodiment, the mobile device applicationcommunicates, via a wireless communication protocol, data associatedwith the determined amount of funds to be transferred from the cashlesswagering account to the EGM. The EGM proceeds with operating with acashless wagering system to log the player into a cashless wageringaccount associated with the player (if necessary) and request thedetermined amount of funds to be transferred from the cashless wageringaccount to the EGM.

Following the EGM requesting the determined amount of non-cashablefunds, the cashless wagering system determines whether to authorize thetransfer of the determined amount of non-cashable funds. If the cashlesswagering system determines not to authorize the determined amount offunds, the cashless wagering system communicates a denial to the EGMand/or the mobile device application, wherein the EGM and/or mobiledevice application display a denial of funds transfer to the player.

On the other hand, if the cashless wagering system determines toauthorize the determined amount of non-cashable funds, the cashlesswagering system updates the cashless wagering account associated withthe player and communicates an authorization to the EGM. The cashlesswagering system reduces a balance of the cashless wagering account bythe reduced amount of non-cashable funds. The EGM proceeds with updatinga credit balance of the EGM, such as a non-cashable credit balance, toaccount for the determined amount of funds. In certain embodiments, theEGM further proceeds with communicating a transfer of funds confirmationto the mobile device, wherein the mobile device application displays aconfirmation of the transfer of the amount of funds and/or the updatedcredit balance of the EGM. Such a transfer amount of funds is availablefor wagering by the player.

In certain embodiments, the action to be performed additionally oralternatively includes automatically transferring non-cashable fundsfrom a cashless wagering account to the EGM utilizing the mobile deviceapplication. In one such embodiment, the gaming system includes anautomatic reload feature wherein if a credit balance of the EGM, such asa non-cashable credit balance, falls below a threshold level, the mobiledevice automatically transfers an amount of non-cashable funds from thecashless wagering account to the EGM to facilitate additional wageringopportunities. It should be appreciated that, in certain embodiments,the gaming system enables the player to enable or disable such anautomatic reload feature.

In another embodiment, the EGM periodically communicates information tothe mobile device regarding the status or amount of the non-cashablecredit balance of the EGM. In one such embodiment, based on thiscommunicated information, the mobile device application determines whento alert the player to potentially transfer additional non-cashablefunds to the EGM utilizing the mobile device application. For example,the mobile device application could vibrate the mobile device, or createa sound, which alerts the player to view the mobile device applicationand select which additional non-cashable funds to virtually insert intoor load on the EGM.

Transfer of Non-Cashable Funds From EGM to Cashless Wagering Account

In certain embodiments, the action to be performed additionally oralternatively includes enabling the player to transfer non-cashablefunds from an EGM to a cashless wagering account facilitated by themobile device application. That is, the system of this disclosureenables a player to transfer unused non-cashable credits from the EGMback to a cashless wagering account in association with the mobiledevice application.

In certain embodiments, following the launching of the mobile deviceapplication, such as following the player selecting an image associatedwith an electronic casino loyalty account card stored via a digitalwallet application or following the mobile device application retrievingdata associated with a cashless wagering account stored via a digitalwallet application, and receiving one or more “cash out” inputs from theplayer, the mobile device application determines an amount ofnon-cashable funds to be transferred from the EGM to the cashlesswagering account.

In one embodiment, the mobile device application enables the player toselect an amount of unused non-cashable credits to be transferred fromthe EGM to the cashless wagering account. In another embodiment, themobile device application determines to transfer part or all of theunused non-cashable credits of the credit balance of the EGM from theEGM to the cashless wagering account.

In certain embodiments, following the determination of an amount ofunused non-cashable credits to be transferred from the EGM to thecashless wagering account, the mobile device application prompts theplayer to cause the mobile device to engage the EGM, such as promptingthe player to tap the mobile device to a player tracking card reader orother designated location(s) of the EGM.

In certain other embodiments, the system determines to facilitate thetransfer of unused non-cashable credits from the EGM to the cashlesswagering account independent of any input by the player and/orindependent of any engagement between the mobile device and the EGM. Inone such embodiment, if the system determines that no activity hasoccurred for a designated amount of time, as a precautionary measure,the system transfers any unused non-cashable credits of the creditbalance of the EGM from the EGM to the cashless wagering account used totransfer funds to the EGM. In another embodiment, if the systemdetermines that another player is attempting to log onto the EGM, as aprecautionary measure, the system transfers any unused non-cashablecredits of the credit balance of the EGM from the EGM to the cashlesswagering account used to transfer funds to the EGM. Such transfers ofthe unused non-cashable credits of the credit balance to the cashlesswagering account are associated with a termination of the player'scurrent gaming session.

In these embodiments, after any engagement between the mobile device andthe EGM (or after the determination of an amount of non-cashable fundsto be transferred if no mobile device to EGM engagement is required),the mobile device application communicates, via a wireless communicationprotocol, data associated with the determined amount of non-cashablefunds to be transferred from the EGM to the cashless wagering account.The EGM proceeds with operating with a cashless wagering system to logthe player into a cashless wagering account associated with the player(or confirm that the player remains logged into the cashless wageringaccount) and request the determined amount of non-cashable funds to betransferred from the EGM to the cashless wagering account. Followingsuch a request, the EGM proceeds with updating a credit balance of theEGM to account for the determined amount of non-cashable fundstransferred from the EGM to the cashless wagering account. The cashlesswagering system additionally updates the cashless wagering accountassociated with the player (i.e., the cashless wagering system adds thedetermined amount of non-cashable funds to the cashless wageringaccount) and communicates a confirmation to the EGM. The EGM furtherproceeds with communicating a transfer of funds confirmation to themobile device, wherein the mobile device application displays aconfirmation of the transfer of the amount of funds and/or the updatedcredit balance of the EGM. Such a transferred amount of non-cashablefunds is available in the player's cashless wagering account to betransferred to another EGM.

Transfer of Virtual Ticket Vouchers

In certain embodiments, the action to be performed additionally oralternatively includes enabling the player to transfer funds from avirtual ticket voucher to the EGM utilizing the mobile deviceapplication.

In certain embodiments, following the launching of the mobile deviceapplication, such as following the player selecting an image associatedwith an electronic casino loyalty account card stored via a digitalwallet application, the mobile device application determines an amountof funds to be transferred to the EGM via the redemption of a virtualticket voucher. In these embodiments, the mobile device applicationdisplays to the player images representing any virtual ticket vouchersassociated with the mobile device. The mobile device application enablesthe player to select one or more images representing one or more virtualticket vouchers associated with the mobile device. In these embodiments,similar to as described above with respect to the transfer of funds froma cashless wagering account to an EGM via a mobile device application,following the determination of which virtual ticket vouchers are to betransferred from the mobile device application to the EGM, the mobiledevice application prompts the player to cause the mobile device toengage the EGM. The mobile device application then communicates, via awireless communication protocol, data associated with the selectedvirtual ticket voucher to be transferred. The EGM then communicates withone or more servers, such as a virtual ticket voucher server, to requestthe selected virtual ticket voucher (and more specifically the amount offunds associated with the selected virtual ticket voucher) betransferred from to the EGM. The server then determines whether toauthorize the transfer of the selected virtual ticket voucher. If thetransfer of the selected virtual ticket voucher is authorized: (i) theserver updates a database of virtual ticket vouchers to reflect theredemption of the selected virtual ticket voucher, (ii) the EGM proceedswith updating a credit balance of the EGM to account for the amount offunds associated with the selected virtual ticket voucher, (iii) atransfer of funds confirmation is communicated to and displayed by themobile device, and (iv) the amount of funds associated with the selectedvirtual ticket voucher are available for wagering by the player.

In certain other embodiments, following a full or partial depletion of acredit balance of the EGM, the EGM wirelessly communicates with themobile device and queries the mobile device for the presence of anyadditional virtual ticket vouchers associated with the mobile deviceapplication. That is, when the credit balance of the EGM is empty, whenthe credit balance of the EGM has less than an amount of credits torepeat a previous wager, when the credit balance of the EGM has lesscredits than a minimum wager and/or when the credit balance of the EGMis below a designated threshold amount, the EGM communicates with themobile device to determine if the mobile device application isassociated with any additional available virtual ticket vouchers. If noadditional virtual ticket vouchers are available, the EGM prompts theplayer to fund the credit balance of the EGM via another funding avenueas disclosed herein. On the other hand, if at least one virtual ticketvoucher is available, the EGM operates with the mobile device tofacilitate the transfer of such at least one virtual ticket voucher tothe EGM. In one such embodiment, the mobile device applicationcommunicates a listing of available virtual ticket vouchers to the EGM.The EGM proceeds with displaying the listing of available virtual ticketvouchers and enables the player to select one or more of the availablevirtual ticket vouchers to redeem. If the player selects one or more ofthe available virtual ticket vouchers, the EGM communicates the player'sselection to the mobile device and the mobile device applicationproceeds with facilitating the transfer of such virtual ticket vouchersto the EGM as described herein. It should be appreciated that thisembodiment enables a player to utilize a mobile device to facilitate thetransfer funds, such as transfer of funds associated with one or morevirtual ticket vouchers associated with the mobile device, withouthaving to reengage the EGM with the mobile device.

In certain other embodiments, following a full or partial depletion of acredit balance of the EGM, the EGM wirelessly communicates with themobile device (or communicates with one or more server which communicatewith the EGM) and queries the mobile device for the presence of anyadditional virtual ticket vouchers associated with the mobile deviceapplication. If no additional virtual ticket vouchers are available, theEGM prompts the player to fund the credit balance of the EGM via anotherfunding avenue as disclosed herein. On the other hand, if at least onevirtual ticket voucher is available, the mobile device applicationproceeds with facilitating the automatic transfer of the at least onevirtual ticket voucher to the EGM as described herein. It should beappreciated that this embodiment enables a player to automaticallytransfer funds, such as transfer of funds associated with one or morevirtual ticket vouchers associated with the mobile device, via themobile device without the player having to reengage the EGM with themobile device and without the player having to prompt either the EGM orthe mobile device application to initiate such a transfer. It should befurther appreciated that, in certain embodiments, the gaming systemenables the player to enable or disable such an automatic “transfer ofvirtual ticket vouchers” feature.

In another embodiment, the EGM periodically communicates information tothe mobile device regarding the status or amount of the credit balanceof the EGM. In one such embodiment, based on this communicatedinformation, the mobile device application determines when to alert theplayer to potentially transfer additional funds to the EGM utilizing themobile device application. For example, the mobile device applicationcould vibrate the mobile device, or create a sound, which alerts theplayer to view the mobile device application and select which additionalfunds to virtually insert into or load on the EGM. In another suchembodiment, based on this communicated information, the mobile deviceapplication determines when to automatically transfer one or moreadditional and available virtual ticket vouchers to the EGM.

Transfer of Promotional Funds

In certain embodiments, the action to be performed additionally oralternatively includes transferring promotional funds from a playeraccount, such as a cashless wagering account, to the EGM utilizing themobile device application. That is, certain of the actions facilitatedby the mobile device running the mobile device application include thetransfer of restricted promotional credits and/or non-restrictedpromotional credits (referred to herein collectively as “promotionalcredits”) from the cashless wagering account to the EGM.

In certain embodiments, rather than utilizing physical promotionaltickets (i.e., an instrument associated with a quantity of promotionalcredits redeemable for game play on EGM, but not otherwise redeemablefor cash) which represent promotional credits, the system utilizes anelectronic or virtual ticket to represent promotional funds. In othersuch embodiments, rather than a player redeeming a physical promotionalticket at a kiosk or player services desk to cause an amount ofpromotional credits associated with the physical promotional ticket tobe associated with a player tracking account, the system utilizes themobile device application to redeem such promotional credits.

In certain embodiments, to obtain promotional funds, such as one or moreelectronic or virtual promotional tickets, a gaming establishmentcommunicates data associated with promotional funds, such as anelectronic or virtual promotional ticket, to the mobile deviceapplication (or a server maintained account associated with the mobiledevice application). It should be appreciated that data associated withpromotional funds, such as one or more electronic promotional tickets,could be communicated to the mobile devices of a plurality of players(e.g., a gaming establishment communicates to each player with aregistered mobile device application a promotional ticket of promotionalcredits for free play of a new gaming machine the gaming establishmentis currently promoting) and/or could be communicated to the mobiledevice of a particular player (e.g., a gaming establishment communicatesto a promotional ticket of promotional credits to a valued player,wherein the promotional credits are redeemable for free play of anygaming machine in the gaming establishment).

In one such embodiment of communicating data associated with promotionalfunds, such as an electronic or virtual promotional ticket, to themobile device application (or a server maintained account associatedwith the mobile device application), one or more servers, such as agaming establishment promotional server, send a message, such as anemail or text message, to a player. The message includes a hyperlinkand/or an attachment associated with the promotional funds, such as anelectronic promotional ticket. When the player accesses the hyperlinkand/or attachment via the player's mobile device, the mobile deviceactivates or launches the mobile device application and the associatedpromotional funds, such as the associated electronic promotional ticket,are transferred to the mobile device application (or a server maintainedaccount associated with the mobile device application).

In another such embodiment of a gaming establishment communicating dataassociated with promotional funds, such as an electronic or virtualpromotional ticket, to the mobile device application (or a servermaintained account associated with the mobile device application), oneor more servers, such as a gaming establishment promotional server, senda message, such as an email or text message, to a player. The message ofthis embodiment does not include any hyperlink or attachment associatedwith any promotional funds, such as any electronic promotional ticketsand thus no promotional funds are transferred to the mobile deviceapplication via this message. Rather, the message of this embodimentnotifies the player that an account associated with the player has beencredited with promotional funds. Such a message could includeinformation associated with the available promotional funds (e.g., anamount of promotional credits, a promotional fund identifier, and/or atime window which the promotional funds may be redeemed). In thisembodiment, when the mobile device application is activated or launchedby a player, the mobile device application queries one or more servers,such as a gaming establishment promotional server, for any promotionalfunds available to the player. In this embodiment, the one or moreservers transfer data associated with any promotional funds available tothe player to the mobile device application (or a server maintainedaccount associated with the mobile device application).

In another such embodiment of communicating data associated withpromotional funds, such as an electronic or virtual promotional ticket,to the mobile device application (or a server maintained accountassociated with the mobile device application), one or more servers,such as a gaming establishment promotional server, send a message to themobile device application to associate the mobile device applicationwith promotional funds, such as one or more electronic or virtualpromotional tickets. Such a message could be sent via email, text,tcp/ip or other suitable networking technology that communicates thepromotional funds, such as the electronic or virtual promotional ticketand/or information associated with the electronic promotional ticket(e.g., an amount of promotional credits, a promotional ticketidentifier, and/or a time window which the electronic promotional ticketmay be redeemed) to the mobile device application (or a servermaintained account associated with the mobile device application).

In another such embodiment of communicating data associated withpromotional funds, such as an electronic or virtual promotional ticket,to the mobile device application (or a server maintained accountassociated with the mobile device application), when the mobile deviceapplication is activated or launched by a player, the mobile deviceapplication queries one or more servers, such as a gaming establishmentpromotional server, for any promotional funds, such as any electronic orvirtual promotional tickets, available to the player. That is, incertain embodiments, following the launching of the mobile deviceapplication, such as following the player selecting an image associatedwith an electronic casino loyalty account card stored via a digitalwallet application or following the mobile device application retrievingdata associated with a player account stored via a digital walletapplication, the system determines if any promotional funds are to betransferred to the EGM facilitated by the mobile device application. Inthis embodiment, if the server determines that promotional funds areavailable for the player, such as one or more electronic or virtualpromotional tickets are available for the player and/or an amount ofpromotional funds are associated with the player's account, the servertransfers data associated with any promotional funds available to theplayer to the mobile device application (or a server maintained accountassociated with the mobile device application).

In another such embodiment of communicating data associated withpromotional funds, such as an electronic or virtual promotional ticket,to the mobile device application (or a server maintained accountassociated with the mobile device application), when the mobile deviceand/or mobile device application detects that the mobile device islocated in a gaming establishment associated with the mobile deviceapplication, the mobile device application queries one or more servers,such as a gaming establishment promotional server, for any promotionalfunds, such as any electronic or virtual promotional tickets, availableto the player and/or an amount of promotional funds associated with theplayer's account. In this embodiment, if the server determines thatpromotional funds are available for the player, such as one or moreelectronic or virtual promotional tickets are available and/or an amountof promotional funds are associated with the player's account, theserver transfers data associated with any promotional funds available tothe player to the mobile device application (or a server maintainedaccount associated with the mobile device application).

It should be appreciated that in certain of these embodiments ofcommunicating data associated with promotional funds, such as anelectronic or virtual promotional ticket, to the mobile deviceapplication, the promotional funds, such as the electronic or virtualpromotional tickets, are stored by the mobile device in association withthe mobile device application. For example, data communicated to themobile device application includes the electronic promotional ticketwhich is redeemable at the EGM via the mobile device application. Inother embodiments of communicating data associated with promotionalfunds, such as an electronic or virtual promotional ticket, to themobile device application, the promotional funds, such as the electronicor virtual promotional tickets, are stored by one or more servers, suchas a gaming establishment promotional server, but viewable via themobile device application. For example, the electronic promotionalticket reside on the server, such as a gaming establishment promotionalserver, and the data communicated to the mobile device applicationincludes identifying information associated the electronic promotionalticket (e.g., an amount of promotional credits, a promotional ticketidentifier, and/or a time window which the electronic promotional ticketmay be redeemed). Accordingly, in each of these embodiments, the mobiledevice stores, in association with the mobile device application, dataassociated with promotional funds, such as one or more electronicpromotional tickets, to replace the use of and certain downsides ordisadvantages associated with paper promotional tickets.

Following the mobile device application obtaining data associated withpromotional funds, such as an electronic or virtual promotional ticket,to the mobile device application, the promotional funds, such as theelectronic or virtual promotional tickets, are accessible by the mobiledevice in association with the mobile device application. That is, asdescribed above in relation to how funds are facilitated to betransferred from a mobile device to an EGM via the mobile deviceapplication, promotional funds, such as one or more electronicpromotional tickets (or promotional credits associated with suchelectronic promotional tickets), are viewable via the mobile deviceapplication and transferable from the mobile device to the EGM via themobile device application.

It should be appreciated that the utilization of a mobile device totransfer one or more of the above-described funds to the EGM reduces thecosts associated with utilizing cash, ticket vouchers and/or promotionaltickets. For example, the utilization of cash and ticket vouchers isassociated with the labor costs of having to periodically remove a cashbox including received ticket vouchers and cash from the EGM, replacethe removed cash box with an empty one and refill the blank ticketvoucher stacks housed by the EGM. The utilization of such cash andticket vouchers is further associated with the various labor costs ofcounting the cash and ticket vouchers removed from the EGM.Specifically, any removed cash is transported to a secure area where oneor more individuals are involved in counting and recording the varioussums of cash and/or ticket vouchers removed from each EGM. The cashamounts removed from each EGM are reconciled with other informationsources, such as from hard meters on the EGM or records from a serverthat generates and validates ticket vouchers. The reconciliation processensures the earnings from the EGM are properly taxed. Additionally, theutilization of promotional tickets is associated with the various costsof printing such promotional tickets, mailing such promotional ticketsto players prior to such players visiting the gaming establishmentand/or staffing a player service desk with personal to redeem suchpromotional tickets. The utilization of a wirelessly connected mobiledevice to facilitate one or more requested actions as described hereinreduces or eliminates these various costs associated with utilizingcash, ticket vouchers and/or promotional tickets.

Securing Transactions Between Mobile Device and EGM

While the facilitation of the transfer of funds to and from an EGM via amobile device has many advantages described herein, certain securityconcerns arise when transferring fund data wirelessly between an EGM anda mobile device (or between an EGM and the mobile device via one or moreservers). For example, a malicious person may attempt to intercept sucha wireless communication and steal the funds being transferred. Such amalicious person may devise electronics, such as an antenna or otherelectronics placed on or near the EGM to insert their mobile devicebetween a “cash out” input and the mobile device engaging the EGM.

More specifically, when facilitating the transfer of deposited fundsand/or an amount of winnings from the EGM to a cashless wagering accountvia the mobile device application, a player initiates an engagement ofthe EGM with the mobile device, such as tapping the mobile device to aplayer tracking card reader or other designated location(s) of the EGM(or a component of the EGM). However, before the engagement of the EGMwith the player's mobile device is complete, an intruder utilizes suchdevised electronics to beat the player to the completion of theengagement. In this example, when the player subsequently actuates a“cash out” button on the EGM, the EGM (or a component of the EGM)proceeds with transferring the amount of the credit balance of themobile device of the intruder. Such a concern is also present when aplayer attempts to wirelessly transfer funds to an EGM via a mobiledevice wherein the intruder device intercepts such a transfer andreroutes the funds to the mobile device of the intruder.

In view of these security concerns, certain embodiments of the presentdisclosure utilize a time window, such as ten seconds, in associationwith one or more requested actions. In one such embodiment, afterreceiving an initiation of an engagement of the EGM with the mobiledevice, the EGM (or a component of the EGM) assigns or otherwiseassociates a time window with such an engagement. If one mobile deviceis attempted to be paired with the EGM within the associated time windowbefore an action is requested, the EGM determines that only one mobiledevice is communicating with the EGM and the EGM proceeds with executingthe requested action, such as a requested fund transfer as describedherein. On the other hand, if more than one mobile device is attemptedto be paired with the EGM within the associated time window before anaction is requested, the EGM determines that an intruder device may bepresent. In such a situation, the EGM cancels the requested actionand/or prompts the player to reengage the EGM with the mobile device.

In another such embodiment, after receiving a requested action from themobile device, the EGM assigns or otherwise associates a time windowwith such a requested action. Following the requested action, if onemobile device is attempted to be paired with the EGM within theassociated time window, the EGM determines that only one mobile deviceis communicating with the EGM and the EGM proceeds with executing therequested action, such as a requested fund transfer as described herein.On the other hand, following the requested action, if more than onemobile device is attempted to be paired with the EGM within theassociated time window, the EGM determines that an intruder device maybe present. In such a situation, the EGM cancels the requested actionand/or prompts the player to reengage the EGM with the mobile device.

It should be appreciated that in addition to thwarting an isolatedattempt by an intruder to intercept a wireless fund transfer, the systemis configured to identify if a device is involved in multiple attemptedengagements with an EGM over a designated threshold or time window. Inthis embodiment, such a device may be prohibited from being involved infurther wireless fund transfers. For example, if multiple engagementsare detected involving a single device within a twenty-four hour period,then that mobile device could be banned from participating in any futureengagements. Alternatively, that device could be prevented fromparticipating in engagements for a designated period of time, such as acooling-off period.

Mobile Device/EGM Communications

As indicated above, in various embodiments, the insertion and removal ofan electronic player tracking card (i.e., the logging in and logging outof the player from the player tracking system), and/or the facilitationof the transfer of funds between a cashless wagering account maintainedfor a player and an EGM is accomplished by one or more wirelesscommunication protocols between the EGM and the mobile device. In suchembodiments, the EGM of the present disclosure includes one or moremobile device interfaces for communicating with a mobile deviceutilizing one or more wireless communication protocols including, butnot limited to: Bluetooth™, Bluetooth™ Low Energy (“BLE”), one or morecellular communication standards (e.g., 3G, 4G, LTE), one or more Wi-Ficompatible standards, and one or more short range communicationprotocols (e.g., a near field communication (“NFC”) protocol).

In certain embodiments, the communication with the mobile device canoccur through one or more wireless interfaces of the EGM. Such wirelessinterfaces are configured to receive information, such as informationassociated with one or more accounts and instructions to initiate atransfer of funds to and from a cashless wagering account and the EGMutilizing a mobile device.

In one embodiment, the wireless interface is integrated into the cabinetof the EGM and the EGM processor is configured to communicate directlywith and send control commands to the wireless interface. In anotherembodiment, the wireless interface is integrated into a device mountedto and/or within the EGM cabinet, such as a player tracking unit or aplayer identification device of a player tracking unit. In certainembodiments where the wireless interface is embedded in a secondarydevice, such as a player tracking unit, the EGM processor sends controlcommands to control the wireless interface via a secondary controller,such as a player tracking controller.

In certain embodiments disclosed herein, the wireless interfaceimplements a near field communication (NFC) protocol to facilitate theinsertion and removal of an electronic player tracking card (i.e., thelogging in and logging out of the player from the player trackingsystem) and/or the transfer of funds between a cashless wagering accountmaintained for a player and an EGM.

NFC is typically used for communication distances of 4 cm or less. NFC,enables for simplified transactions, data exchange, and connections witha touch. Formed in 2004, the Near Field Communication Forum (NFC Forum)promotes sharing, pairing, and transactions between NFC devices anddevelops and certifies device compliance with NFC standards. NFC's shortrange helps keep encrypted identity documents private. Thus, asdescribed above, a tap of a mobile device with an NFC chip to an EGM cancause a transfer of funds to an EGM and/or serve as keycard or ID cardfor a loyalty program.

As seen in FIG. 3A, utilizing an NFC implementation, the mobile device210 communicates with the EGM 250 via an NFC protocol. As seen in FIG.3A, the EGM housing (which includes the EGM 250 and various systemcomponents) operates with a gaming establishment management system 260which operates with one or more servers, such as one or more accountingservers 270, patron management servers 280 and cashless wagering servers290.

In certain embodiments which utilize the NFC implementation, the mobiledevice application registers a mobile device application with one ormore processors of the mobile device. In these embodiments, when themobile device is detected by an NFC reader of a component of a gamingestablishment management system located inside the EGM, such as aNexGen® player tracking component of an IGT Advantage® system, thecomponent of the gaming establishment management system located insidethe EGM communicates one or more data messages to the mobile device (orto one or more servers which then communicate such data messages to themobile device). Such data messages are commands generated by thecomponent of the gaming establishment management system located insidethe EGM when the mobile device is detected in the NFC reader field. Theprocessor of the mobile device communicates the data message to themobile device application. The mobile device application responds, suchas communicating a triggering message, and a communication channel isopened between the component of the gaming establishment managementsystem located inside the EGM and the mobile device application (orbetween the component of the gaming establishment management systemlocated inside the EGM, one or more servers and the mobile deviceapplication). This open communication channel enables the component ofthe gaming establishment management system located inside the EGM tosend, though the NFC reader, additional data messages to the mobiledevice (or to the mobile device via one or more servers) which areresponded to by the mobile device application of the mobile device.

It should be appreciated that as long as the mobile device remainswithin the NFC field, the component of the gaming establishmentmanagement system located inside the EGM is configured to communicatewith the mobile device and send data, such as status updates, asnecessary. However, once the mobile device is removed from the NFCfield, the communication channel is closed and such status updates mustbe discontinued.

In various embodiments, the component of the gaming establishmentmanagement system located inside the EGM is configured to communicateother commands to the mobile device. Such commands and/or messagesinclude one or more of: (i) a Card Inserted message which confirms thatthe player is logged into the player tracking system (e.g., anelectronic player tracking card is associated with the EGM); (ii) a CardRemoved message which confirms that the player is logged out of theplayer tracking system (e.g., an electronic player tracking card isremoved or no longer associated with the EGM); (iii) a New Card Scannedmessage which reports that a physical card is detected in the playertracking card reader; (iv) a PIN Status message which reports a personalidentification number verification status; (v) a Transfer Status messagewhich reports a transfer request status; (vi) a Balance Status messagewhich reports a balance request status; and (vii) a Disconnect messagewhich informs the mobile device application to drop the connection withthe EGM, such as when the EGM cashout button is pressed, when the gamingsystem determines that the player card is “abandoned” or when the EGMcredit balance reaches zero and remains at zero for a designated periodof time, such as thirty seconds.

In other embodiments, the wireless interface implements a Wi-Fi,cellular and/or Bluetooth™ communications protocol to facilitate theinsertion and removal of an electronic player tracking card (i.e., thelogging in and logging out of the player from the player trackingsystem) and/or the transfer of funds between a cashless wagering accountmaintained for a player and an EGM.

In such embodiments, Bluetooth™ pairing occurs when two Bluetoothdevices agree to communicate with each other and establish a connection.In order to pair two Bluetooth wireless devices, a password (passkey) isexchanged between the two devices. The Passkey is a code shared by bothBluetooth devices, which proves that both users have agreed to pair witheach other. After the passkey code is exchanged, an encryptedcommunication can be set up between the pair devices. In Wi-Fi paring,every pairing can be set up with WPA2 encryption or another type ofencryption scheme to keep the transfer private. Wi-Fi Direct is anexample of a protocol that can be used to establish point-to-pointcommunications between two Wi-Fi devices. The protocol enables for aWi-Fi device pair directly with another without having to first join alocal network.

As seen in FIG. 3B, utilizing an a Wi-Fi/Bluetooth™ communicationsprotocol implementation, the mobile device 210 communicates with the EGM250 via a Wi-Fi/Bluetooth™ communications protocol. As seen in FIG. 3B,the EGM housing (which includes the EGM 250 and various systemcomponents) operates with a gaming establishment management system 260which operates with one or more servers, such as one or more accountingservers 270, patron management servers 280 and cashless wagering servers290.

It should be appreciated that Wi-Fi, cellular or Bluetooth™communication protocols can be used in lieu of or in combination withNFC. For instance, an NFC communication can be used to instantiate aWi-Fi or Bluetooth™ communication between the EGM, zero, one or moreservers and a mobile device, such as secure pairing using one of theseprotocols. That is, in one embodiment, an NFC interface on an EGM can beused to set-up a higher speed communication between the EGM, zero, oneor more servers and the NFC enabled mobile device. The higher speedcommunication rates can be used for expanded content sharing. Forinstance, a NFC and Bluetooth enabled EGM can be tapped by an NFC andBluetooth enabled mobile device for instant Bluetooth pairing betweenthe devices and zero, one or more servers. Instant Bluetooth pairingbetween an EGM, an NFC enabled mobile device and zero, one or moreservers, can save searching, waiting, and entering codes. In anotherexample, an EGM can be configured as an NFC enabled router, such as arouter supporting a Wi-Fi communication standard. Tapping an NFC enabledmobile device to an NFC enabled and Wi-Fi enabled EGM can be used toestablish a Wi-Fi connection between the devices and zero, one or moreservers.

In certain embodiments which implement a Wi-Fi, cellular and/orBluetooth™ communications protocol, the gaming system utilizes one ormore QR codes generated by the EGM to facilitate the communication ofdata between the mobile device and the gaming system. In suchembodiments, the QR code is used to identify the EGM that is displayingthe QR code to identify the server to which the mobile device shouldconnect. It should be appreciated that the QR code enables the gamingsystem to establish a secure tunnel or path from the mobile device tothe gaming establishment's Wi-Fi network and then to the gamingestablishment's wired network and finally to the EGM. In theseembodiments, a communication tunnel wrapper (i.e., a Wi-Fi/Bluetooth™tunnel wrapper) is utilized to establish a connection between the gamingsystem and the mobile device and to transport any data messagesdescribed herein between the EGM, zero, one or more servers and themobile device.

More specifically, in certain embodiments, the player requests, via aninput at the EGM and/or the mobile device, the generation of a QR codeby the EGM. In response to the player's request, the EGM or a playertracking unit displays a QR code. In certain embodiments, the QR codeincludes a nonce which prevents a third-party (e.g., another player)from sniping the player's login attempt. Such an on-demand QR coderemains valid for a designated amount of time such that if the playerdoes not scan the QR code within the designated amount of time, anotherQR code is necessary to be scanned to connect the mobile device to theEGM.

In these embodiments, as seen in FIG. 2F, the player scans the QR codewith the mobile device application. If the gaming system determines thatthe QR code is valid (i.e., not expired), the mobile device applicationwill connect to the gaming system. It should be appreciated that as longas the established connection between the mobile device and the gamingsystem remains active, one or more gaming system servers and mobiledevice may communicate data, such as status updates, as necessary. Itshould be further appreciated that in association with the Wi-Fi orBluetooth™ or mobile device network communications protocol describedherein, any action requested by the player via the mobile deviceapplication does not require a new engagement between the mobile deviceand the EGM, such as a new scanning of the QR code to send such arequested action from the mobile device to the EGM (or to send arequested action from the mobile device to one or more servers and thenfrom one or more servers to the EGM).

In certain embodiments, following the scanning of a valid QR code, themobile device application connects to one or more servers. Such serversuse websockets secured with a transport layer security protocol or othersimilar mechanisms. In one such embodiment, the servers operate with oneor more translators and zero, one or more components of the gamingsystem, similarly using websockets secured with a transport layersecurity protocol, to communicate data to the EGM or a component of theEGM. It should be appreciated that in certain embodiments, one or moreof the servers are scalable servers configured to scale to acceptconnections from thousands of mobile devices.

In certain embodiments, after establishing a connection with one or moreservers, the mobile device application transmits a connect command tothe gaming system. In response to receiving a connect command from themobile device, the gaming system sends a message to the mobile device.This message serves to encapsulate various commands between the gamingsystem and the mobile device. In these embodiments, if the mobile deviceapplication does not receive this message within a designated period oftime, such as within five seconds, the mobile device applicationdisplays an error message to the player and directs the player to rescanthe QR code.

In addition to the connect command communicated from the mobile deviceapplication to the gaming system, the mobile device application of theseembodiments is configured to send a disconnect command to the gamingsystem. Such a disconnect command functions to tear-down the connectionthe server. That is, after the server receives the disconnect commandfrom the mobile device application, the server sends this disconnectcommand to the translator and close the websocket to the mobile deviceapplication. In these embodiments, if the websocket is not closed orotherwise terminated within a designated period of time, such as fiveseconds, the mobile device application may retry communicating thiscommand or close the websocket. It should be appreciated that if themobile device connection is severed before this command is received bythe gaming system, the sever sends this command on behalf of the mobiledevice application;

In another embodiment, the mobile device application is configured tosend a trigger command to the gaming system, such as a component of thegaming establishment management system located inside the EGM. In thisembodiment, the trigger command is associated with an action requestedby the player, such as a transfer of funds to or from the EGM. In suchembodiments, when the gaming system receives the trigger command fromthe mobile device application, the gaming system will communicate theappropriate requests to the mobile device application. If the mobiledevice application does not receive these requests within a designatedamount of time, such as five seconds, the mobile device application willdisplay an error message to the player and enable the player to retrythe requested action.

In other embodiments, the mobile device application communicates withthe gaming system through a tunnel established over the mobile device'sWi-FI network or the mobile device's network connection. In suchembodiments, the mobile device application will connect to one or moregaming system servers which use websockets secured with a transportlayer security protocol. The gaming system server operates with one ormore translators, similarly using websockets secured with a transportlayer security protocol to communicate data to the EGM or a component ofthe EGM.

In certain embodiments which utilize the NFC communication protocoldescribed herein, which utilize the Wi-Fi, cellular and/or Bluetooth™communication protocols described herein and/or which utilize any othercommunication protocol described herein, any action requested by theplayer via the mobile device application requires a new engagementbetween the mobile device and the EGM, such as a new tap of the mobiledevice to a card reader or other designated location(s) of the EGM. Incertain other embodiments which utilize the NFC communication protocoldescribed herein, which utilize the Wi-Fi, cellular and/or Bluetooth™communication protocols described herein and/or which utilize any othercommunication protocol described herein, certain actions requested bythe player via the mobile device application requires a new engagementbetween the mobile device and the EGM, such as a new tap of the mobiledevice to a card reader or other designated location(s) of the EGM andother actions requested by the player via the mobile device applicationdo not require any new engagement between the mobile device and the EGM.

Gaming Systems

The above-described embodiments of the present disclosure may beimplemented in accordance with or in conjunction with one or more of avariety of different types of gaming systems, such as, but not limitedto, those described below.

The present disclosure contemplates a variety of different gamingsystems each having one or more of a plurality of different features,attributes, or characteristics. A “gaming system” as used herein refersto various configurations of: (a) one or more central servers, centralcontrollers, or remote hosts; (b) one or more electronic gaming machinessuch as those located on a casino floor; and/or (c) one or more personalgaming devices, such as desktop computers, laptop computers, tabletcomputers or computing devices, personal digital assistants, mobilephones, and other mobile computing devices.

Thus, in various embodiments, the gaming system of the presentdisclosure includes: (a) one or more electronic gaming machines incombination with one or more central servers, central controllers, orremote hosts; (b) one or more personal gaming devices in combinationwith one or more central servers, central controllers, or remote hosts;(c) one or more personal gaming devices in combination with one or moreelectronic gaming machines; (d) one or more personal gaming devices, oneor more electronic gaming machines, and one or more central servers,central controllers, or remote hosts in combination with one another;(e) a single electronic gaming machine; (f) a plurality of electronicgaming machines in combination with one another; (g) a single personalgaming device; (h) a plurality of personal gaming devices in combinationwith one another; (i) a single central server, central controller, orremote host; and/or (j) a plurality of central servers, centralcontrollers, or remote hosts in combination with one another.

For brevity and clarity and unless specifically stated otherwise, theterm “EGM” is used herein to refer to an electronic gaming machine (suchas a slot machine, a video poker machine, a video lottery terminal(VLT), a video keno machine, or a video bingo machine located on acasino floor). Additionally, for brevity and clarity and unlessspecifically stated otherwise, “EGM” as used herein represents one EGMor a plurality of EGMs, “personal gaming device” as used hereinrepresents one personal gaming device or a plurality of personal gamingdevices, and “central server, central controller, or remote host” asused herein represents one central server, central controller, or remotehost or a plurality of central servers, central controllers, or remotehosts.

As noted above, in various embodiments, the gaming system includes anEGM (or personal gaming device) in combination with a central server,central controller, or remote host. In such embodiments, the EGM (orpersonal gaming device) is configured to communicate with the centralserver, central controller, or remote host through a data network orremote communication link. In certain such embodiments, the EGM (orpersonal gaming device) is configured to communicate with another EGM(or personal gaming device) through the same data network or remotecommunication link or through a different data network or remotecommunication link.

In certain embodiments in which the gaming system includes an EGM (orpersonal gaming device) in combination with a central server, centralcontroller, or remote host, the central server, central controller, orremote host is any suitable computing device (such as a server) thatincludes at least one processor and at least one memory device or datastorage device. As further described herein, the EGM (or personal gamingdevice) includes at least one EGM (or personal gaming device) processorconfigured to transmit and receive data or signals representing events,messages, commands, or any other suitable information between the EGM(or personal gaming device) and the central server, central controller,or remote host. The at least one processor of that EGM (or personalgaming device) is configured to execute the events, messages, orcommands represented by such data or signals in conjunction with theoperation of the EGM (or personal gaming device). Moreover, the at leastone processor of the central server, central controller, or remote hostis configured to transmit and receive data or signals representingevents, messages, commands, or any other suitable information betweenthe central server, central controller, or remote host and the EGM (orpersonal gaming device). The at least one processor of the centralserver, central controller, or remote host is configured to execute theevents, messages, or commands represented by such data or signals inconjunction with the operation of the central server, centralcontroller, or remote host. One, more than one, or each of the functionsof the central server, central controller, or remote host may beperformed by the at least one processor of the EGM (or personal gamingdevice). Further, one, more than one, or each of the functions of the atleast one processor of the EGM (or personal gaming device) may beperformed by the at least one processor of the central server, centralcontroller, or remote host.

In certain such embodiments, computerized instructions for controllingany games (such as any primary or base games and/or any secondary orbonus games) displayed by the EGM (or personal gaming device) areexecuted by the central server, central controller, or remote host. Insuch “thin client” embodiments, the central server, central controller,or remote host remotely controls any games (or other suitableinterfaces) displayed by the EGM (or personal gaming device), and theEGM (or personal gaming device) is utilized to display such games (orsuitable interfaces) and to receive one or more inputs or commands. Inother such embodiments, computerized instructions for controlling anygames displayed by the EGM (or personal gaming device) are communicatedfrom the central server, central controller, or remote host to the EGM(or personal gaming device) and are stored in at least one memory deviceof the EGM (or personal gaming device). In such “thick client”embodiments, the at least one processor of the EGM (or personal gamingdevice) executes the computerized instructions to control any games (orother suitable interfaces) displayed by the EGM (or personal gamingdevice).

In various embodiments in which the gaming system includes a pluralityof EGMs (or personal gaming devices), one or more of the EGMs (orpersonal gaming devices) are thin client EGMs (or personal gamingdevices) and one or more of the EGMs (or personal gaming devices) arethick client EGMs (or personal gaming devices). In other embodiments inwhich the gaming system includes one or more EGMs (or personal gamingdevices), certain functions of one or more of the EGMs (or personalgaming devices) are implemented in a thin client environment, andcertain other functions of one or more of the EGMs (or personal gamingdevices) are implemented in a thick client environment. In one suchembodiment in which the gaming system includes an EGM (or personalgaming device) and a central server, central controller, or remote host,computerized instructions for controlling any primary or base gamesdisplayed by the EGM (or personal gaming device) are communicated fromthe central server, central controller, or remote host to the EGM (orpersonal gaming device) in a thick client configuration, andcomputerized instructions for controlling any secondary or bonus gamesor other functions displayed by the EGM (or personal gaming device) areexecuted by the central server, central controller, or remote host in athin client configuration.

In certain embodiments in which the gaming system includes: (a) an EGM(or personal gaming device) configured to communicate with a centralserver, central controller, or remote host through a data network;and/or (b) a plurality of EGMs (or personal gaming devices) configuredto communicate with one another through a data network, the data networkis a local area network (LAN) in which the EGMs (or personal gamingdevices) are located substantially proximate to one another and/or thecentral server, central controller, or remote host. In one example, theEGMs (or personal gaming devices) and the central server, centralcontroller, or remote host are located in a gaming establishment or aportion of a gaming establishment.

In other embodiments in which the gaming system includes: (a) an EGM (orpersonal gaming device) configured to communicate with a central server,central controller, or remote host through a data network; and/or (b) aplurality of EGMs (or personal gaming devices) configured to communicatewith one another through a data network, the data network is a wide areanetwork (WAN) in which one or more of the EGMs (or personal gamingdevices) are not necessarily located substantially proximate to anotherone of the EGMs (or personal gaming devices) and/or the central server,central controller, or remote host. For example, one or more of the EGMs(or personal gaming devices) are located: (a) in an area of a gamingestablishment different from an area of the gaming establishment inwhich the central server, central controller, or remote host is located;or (b) in a gaming establishment different from the gaming establishmentin which the central server, central controller, or remote host islocated. In another example, the central server, central controller, orremote host is not located within a gaming establishment in which theEGMs (or personal gaming devices) are located. In certain embodiments inwhich the data network is a WAN, the gaming system includes a centralserver, central controller, or remote host and an EGM (or personalgaming device) each located in a different gaming establishment in asame geographic area, such as a same city or a same state. Gamingsystems in which the data network is a WAN are substantially identicalto gaming systems in which the data network is a LAN, though thequantity of EGMs (or personal gaming devices) in such gaming systems mayvary relative to one another.

In further embodiments in which the gaming system includes: (a) an EGM(or personal gaming device) configured to communicate with a centralserver, central controller, or remote host through a data network;and/or (b) a plurality of EGMs (or personal gaming devices) configuredto communicate with one another through a data network, the data networkis an internet (such as the Internet) or an intranet. In certain suchembodiments, an Internet browser of the EGM (or personal gaming device)is usable to access an Internet game page from any location where anInternet connection is available. In one such embodiment, after the EGM(or personal gaming device) accesses the Internet game page, the centralserver, central controller, or remote host identifies a player beforeenabling that player to place any wagers on any plays of any wageringgames. In one example, the central server, central controller, or remotehost identifies the player by requiring a player account of the playerto be logged into via an input of a unique username and passwordcombination assigned to the player. The central server, centralcontroller, or remote host may, however, identify the player in anyother suitable manner, such as by validating a player trackingidentification number associated with the player; by reading a playertracking card or other smart card inserted into a card reader (asdescribed below); by validating a unique player identification numberassociated with the player by the central server, central controller, orremote host; or by identifying the EGM (or personal gaming device), suchas by identifying the MAC address or the IP address of the Internetfacilitator. In various embodiments, once the central server, centralcontroller, or remote host identifies the player, the central server,central controller, or remote host enables placement of one or morewagers on one or more plays of one or more primary or base games and/orone or more secondary or bonus games, and displays those plays via theInternet browser of the EGM (or personal gaming device). Examples ofimplementations of Internet-based gaming are further described in U.S.Pat. No. 8,764,566, entitled “Internet Remote Game Server,” and U.S.Pat. No. 8,147,334, entitled “Universal Game Server,” which areincorporated herein by reference.

The central server, central controller, or remote host and the EGM (orpersonal gaming device) are configured to connect to the data network orremote communications link in any suitable manner. In variousembodiments, such a connection is accomplished via: a conventional phoneline or other data transmission line, a digital subscriber line (DSL), aT-1 line, a coaxial cable, a fiber optic cable, a wireless or wiredrouting device, a mobile communications network connection (such as acellular network or mobile Internet network), or any other suitablemedium. The expansion in the quantity of computing devices and thequantity and speed of Internet connections in recent years increasesopportunities for players to use a variety of EGMs (or personal gamingdevices) to play games from an ever-increasing quantity of remote sites.Additionally, the enhanced bandwidth of digital wireless communicationsmay render such technology suitable for some or all communications,particularly if such communications are encrypted. Higher datatransmission speeds may be useful for enhancing the sophistication andresponse of the display and interaction with players.

EGM Components

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an example EGM 1000 and FIGS. 5A and 5Binclude two different example EGMs 2000 a and 2000 b. The EGMs 1000,2000 a, and 2000 b are merely example EGMs, and different EGMs may beimplemented using different combinations of the components shown in theEGMs 1000, 2000 a, and 2000 b. Although the below refers to EGMs, invarious embodiments personal gaming devices may includes some or all ofthe below components.

In these embodiments, the EGM 1000 includes a master gaming controller1012 configured to communicate with and to operate with a plurality ofperipheral devices 1022.

The master gaming controller 1012 includes at least one processor 1010.The at least one processor 1010 is any suitable processing device or setof processing devices, such as a microprocessor, a microcontroller-basedplatform, a suitable integrated circuit, or one or moreapplication-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), configured to executesoftware enabling various configuration and reconfiguration tasks, suchas: (1) communicating with a remote source (such as a server that storesauthentication information or game information) via a communicationinterface 1006 of the master gaming controller 1012; (2) convertingsignals read by an interface to a format corresponding to that used bysoftware or memory of the EGM; (3) accessing memory to configure orreconfigure game parameters in the memory according to indicia read fromthe EGM; (4) communicating with interfaces and the peripheral devices1022 (such as input/output devices); and/or (5) controlling theperipheral devices 1022. In certain embodiments, one or more componentsof the master gaming controller 1012 (such as the at least one processor1010) reside within a housing of the EGM (described below), while inother embodiments at least one component of the master gaming controller1012 resides outside of the housing of the EGM.

The master gaming controller 1012 also includes at least one memorydevice 1016, which includes: (1) volatile memory (e.g., RAM 1009, whichcan include non-volatile RAM, magnetic RAM, ferroelectric RAM, and anyother suitable forms); (2) non-volatile memory 1019 (e.g., disk memory,FLASH memory, EPROMs, EEPROMs, memristor-based non-volatile solid-statememory, etc.); (3) unalterable memory (e.g., EPROMs 1008); (4) read-onlymemory; and/or (5) a secondary memory storage device 1015, such as anon-volatile memory device, configured to store gaming software relatedinformation (the gaming software related information and the memory maybe used to store various audio files and games not currently being usedand invoked in a configuration or reconfiguration). Any other suitablemagnetic, optical, and/or semiconductor memory may operate inconjunction with the EGM disclosed herein. In certain embodiments, theat least one memory device 1016 resides within the housing of the EGM(described below), while in other embodiments at least one component ofthe at least one memory device 1016 resides outside of the housing ofthe EGM.

The at least one memory device 1016 is configured to store, for example:(1) configuration software 1014, such as all the parameters and settingsfor a game playable on the EGM; (2) associations 1018 betweenconfiguration indicia read from an EGM with one or more parameters andsettings; (3) communication protocols configured to enable the at leastone processor 1010 to communicate with the peripheral devices 1022;and/or (4) communication transport protocols (such as TCP/IP, USB,Firewire, IEEE1394, Bluetooth, IEEE 802.11x (IEEE 802.11 standards),hiperlan/2, HomeRF, etc.) configured to enable the EGM to communicatewith local and non-local devices using such protocols. In oneimplementation, the master gaming controller 1012 communicates withother devices using a serial communication protocol. A few non-limitingexamples of serial communication protocols that other devices, such asperipherals (e.g., a bill validator or a ticket printer), may use tocommunicate with the master game controller 1012 include USB, RS-232,and Netplex (a proprietary protocol developed by IGT).

In certain embodiments, the at least one memory device 1016 isconfigured to store program code and instructions executable by the atleast one processor of the EGM to control the EGM. The at least onememory device 1016 of the EGM also stores other operating data, such asimage data, event data, input data, random number generators (RNGs) orpseudo-RNGs, paytable data or information, and/or applicable game rulesthat relate to the play of one or more games on the EGM. In variousembodiments, part or all of the program code and/or the operating datadescribed above is stored in at least one detachable or removable memorydevice including, but not limited to, a cartridge, a disk, a CD ROM, aDVD, a USB memory device, or any other suitable non-transitory computerreadable medium. In certain such embodiments, an operator (such as agaming establishment operator) and/or a player uses such a removablememory device in an EGM to implement at least part of the presentdisclosure. In other embodiments, part or all of the program code and/orthe operating data is downloaded to the at least one memory device ofthe EGM through any suitable data network described above (such as anInternet or intranet).

The at least one memory device 1016 also stores a plurality of devicedrivers 1042. Examples of different types of device drivers includedevice drivers for EGM components and device drivers for the peripheralcomponents 1022. Typically, the device drivers 1042 utilize variouscommunication protocols that enable communication with a particularphysical device. The device driver abstracts the hardware implementationof that device. For example, a device driver may be written for eachtype of card reader that could potentially be connected to the EGM.Non-limiting examples of communication protocols used to implement thedevice drivers include Netplex, USB, Serial, Ethernet 175, Firewire, I/Odebouncer, direct memory map, serial, PCI, parallel, RF, Bluetooth™,near-field communications (e.g., using near-field magnetics), 802.11(WiFi), etc. In one embodiment, when one type of a particular device isexchanged for another type of the particular device, the at least oneprocessor of the EGM loads the new device driver from the at least onememory device to enable communication with the new device. For instance,one type of card reader in the EGM can be replaced with a seconddifferent type of card reader when device drivers for both card readersare stored in the at least one memory device.

In certain embodiments, the software units stored in the at least onememory device 1016 can be upgraded as needed. For instance, when the atleast one memory device 1016 is a hard drive, new games, new gameoptions, new parameters, new settings for existing parameters, newsettings for new parameters, new device drivers, and new communicationprotocols can be uploaded to the at least one memory device 1016 fromthe master game controller 1012 or from some other external device. Asanother example, when the at least one memory device 1016 includes aCD/DVD drive including a CD/DVD configured to store game options,parameters, and settings, the software stored in the at least one memorydevice 1016 can be upgraded by replacing a first CD/DVD with a secondCD/DVD. In yet another example, when the at least one memory device 1016uses flash memory 1019 or EPROM 1008 units configured to store games,game options, parameters, and settings, the software stored in the flashand/or EPROM memory units can be upgraded by replacing one or morememory units with new memory units that include the upgraded software.In another embodiment, one or more of the memory devices, such as thehard drive, may be employed in a game software download process from aremote software server.

In some embodiments, the at least one memory device 1016 also storesauthentication and/or validation components 1044 configured toauthenticate/validate specified EGM components and/or information, suchas hardware components, software components, firmware components,peripheral device components, user input device components, informationreceived from one or more user input devices, information stored in theat least one memory device 1016, etc. Examples of various authenticationand/or validation components are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,620,047,entitled “Electronic Gaming Apparatus Having Authentication Data Sets,”which is incorporated herein by reference.

In certain embodiments, the peripheral devices 1022 include severaldevice interfaces, such as: (1) at least one output device 1020including at least one display device 1035; (2) at least one inputdevice 1030 (which may include contact and/or non-contact interfaces);(3) at least one transponder 1054; (4) at least one wirelesscommunication component 1056; (5) at least one wired/wireless powerdistribution component 1058; (6) at least one sensor 1060; (7) at leastone data preservation component 1062; (8) at least one motion/gestureanalysis and interpretation component 1064; (9) at least one motiondetection component 1066; (10) at least one portable power source 1068;(11) at least one geolocation module 1076; (12) at least one useridentification module 1077; (13) at least one player/device trackingmodule 1078; and (14) at least one information filtering module 1079.

The at least one output device 1020 includes at least one display device1035 configured to display any game(s) displayed by the EGM and anysuitable information associated with such game(s). In certainembodiments, the display devices are connected to or mounted on ahousing of the EGM (described below). In various embodiments, thedisplay devices serve as digital glass configured to advertise certaingames or other aspects of the gaming establishment in which the EGM islocated. In various embodiments, the EGM includes one or more of thefollowing display devices: (a) a central display device; (b) a playertracking display configured to display various information regarding aplayer's player tracking status (as described below); (c) a secondary orupper display device in addition to the central display device and theplayer tracking display; (d) a credit display configured to display acurrent quantity of credits, amount of cash, account balance, or theequivalent; and (e) a bet display configured to display an amountwagered for one or more plays of one or more games. The example EGM 2000a illustrated in FIG. 5A includes a central display device 2116, aplayer tracking display 2140, a credit display 2120, and a bet display2122. The example EGM 2000 b illustrated in FIG. 5B includes a centraldisplay device 2116, an upper display device 2118, a player trackingdisplay 2140, a credit display 2120, and a bet display 2122.

In various embodiments, the display devices include, without limitation:a monitor, a television display, a plasma display, a liquid crystaldisplay (LCD), a display based on light emitting diodes (LEDs), adisplay based on a plurality of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), adisplay based on polymer light-emitting diodes (PLEDs), a display basedon a plurality of surface-conduction electron-emitters (SEDs), a displayincluding a projected and/or reflected image, or any other suitableelectronic device or display mechanism. In certain embodiments, asdescribed above, the display device includes a touch-screen with anassociated touch-screen controller. The display devices may be of anysuitable sizes, shapes, and configurations.

The display devices of the EGM are configured to display one or moregame and/or non-game images, symbols, and indicia. In certainembodiments, the display devices of the EGM are configured to displayany suitable visual representation or exhibition of the movement ofobjects; dynamic lighting; video images; images of people, characters,places, things, and faces of cards; and the like. In certainembodiments, the display devices of the EGM are configured to displayone or more video reels, one or more video wheels, and/or one or morevideo dice. In other embodiments, certain of the displayed images,symbols, and indicia are in mechanical form. That is, in theseembodiments, the display device includes any electromechanical device,such as one or more rotatable wheels, one or more reels, and/or one ormore dice, configured to display at least one or a plurality of game orother suitable images, symbols, or indicia.

In various embodiments, the at least one output device 1020 includes apayout device. In these embodiments, after the EGM receives an actuationof a cashout device (described below), the EGM causes the payout deviceto provide a payment to the player. In one embodiment, the payout deviceis one or more of: (a) a ticket printer and dispenser configured toprint and dispense a ticket or credit slip associated with a monetaryvalue, wherein the ticket or credit slip may be redeemed for itsmonetary value via a cashier, a kiosk, or other suitable redemptionsystem; (b) a bill dispenser configured to dispense paper currency; (c)a coin dispenser configured to dispense coins or tokens (such as into acoin payout tray); and (d) any suitable combination thereof. The exampleEGMs 2000 a and 2000 b illustrated in FIGS. 5A and 5B each include aticket printer and dispenser 2136. Examples of ticket-in ticket-out(TITO) technology are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,429,361, entitled“Gaming Machine Information, Communication and Display System”; U.S.Pat. No. 5,470,079, entitled “Gaming Machine Accounting and MonitoringSystem”; U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,874, entitled “Cashless Gaming Apparatusand Method”; U.S. Pat. No. 6,729,957, entitled “Gaming Method and HostComputer with Ticket-In/Ticket-Out Capability”; U.S. Pat. No. 6,729,958,entitled “Gaming System with Ticket-In/Ticket-Out Capability”; U.S. Pat.No. 6,736,725, entitled “Gaming Method and Host Computer withTicket-In/Ticket-Out Capability”; U.S. Pat. No. 7,275,991, entitled“Slot Machine with Ticket-In/Ticket-Out Capability”; U.S. Pat. No.6,048,269, entitled “Coinless Slot Machine System and Method”; and U.S.Pat. No. 5,290,003, entitled “Gaming Machine and Coupons,” which areincorporated herein by reference.

In certain embodiments, rather than dispensing bills, coins, or aphysical ticket having a monetary value to the player following receiptof an actuation of the cashout device, the payout device is configuredto cause a payment to be provided to the player in the form of anelectronic funds transfer, such as via a direct deposit into a bankaccount, a casino account, or a prepaid account of the player; via atransfer of funds onto an electronically recordable identification cardor smart card of the player; or via sending a virtual ticket having amonetary value to an electronic device of the player. Examples ofproviding payment using virtual tickets are described in U.S. Pat. No.8,613,659, entitled “Virtual Ticket-In and Ticket-Out on a GamingMachine,” which is incorporated herein by reference.

While any credit balances, any wagers, any values, and any awards aredescribed herein as amounts of monetary credits or currency, one or moreof such credit balances, such wagers, such values, and such awards maybe for non-monetary credits, promotional credits, of player trackingpoints or credits.

In certain embodiments, the at least one output device 1020 is a soundgenerating device controlled by one or more sound cards. In one suchembodiment, the sound generating device includes one or more speakers orother sound generating hardware and/or software configured to generatesounds, such as by playing music for any games or by playing music forother modes of the EGM, such as an attract mode. The example EGMs 2000 aand 2000 b illustrated in FIGS. 5A and 5B each include a plurality ofspeakers 2150. In another such embodiment, the EGM provides dynamicsounds coupled with attractive multimedia images displayed on one ormore of the display devices to provide an audio-visual representation orto otherwise display full-motion video with sound to attract players tothe EGM. In certain embodiments, the EGM displays a sequence of audioand/or visual attraction messages during idle periods to attractpotential players to the EGM. The videos may be customized to provideany appropriate information.

The at least one input device 1030 may include any suitable device thatenables an input signal to be produced and received by the at least oneprocessor 1010 of the EGM.

In one embodiment, the at least one input device 1030 includes a paymentdevice configured to communicate with the at least one processor of theEGM to fund the EGM. In certain embodiments, the payment device includesone or more of: (a) a bill acceptor into which paper money is insertedto fund the EGM; (b) a ticket acceptor into which a ticket or a voucheris inserted to fund the EGM; (c) a coin slot into which coins or tokensare inserted to fund the EGM; (d) a reader or a validator for creditcards, debit cards, or credit slips into which a credit card, debitcard, or credit slip is inserted to fund the EGM; (e) a playeridentification card reader into which a player identification card isinserted to fund the EGM; or (f) any suitable combination thereof. Theexample EGMs 2000 a and 2000 b illustrated in FIGS. 5A and 5B eachinclude a combined bill and ticket acceptor 2128 and a coin slot 2126.

In one embodiment, the at least one input device 1030 includes a paymentdevice configured to enable the EGM to be funded via an electronic fundstransfer, such as a transfer of funds from a bank account. In anotherembodiment, the EGM includes a payment device configured to communicatewith a mobile device of a player, such as a mobile phone, a radiofrequency identification tag, or any other suitable wired or wirelessdevice, to retrieve relevant information associated with that player tofund the EGM. Examples of funding an EGM via communication between theEGM and a mobile device (such as a mobile phone) of a player aredescribed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0344942,entitled “Avatar as Security Measure for Mobile Device Use withElectronic Gaming Machine,” which is incorporated herein by reference.When the EGM is funded, the at least one processor determines the amountof funds entered and displays the corresponding amount on a creditdisplay or any other suitable display as described below.

In certain embodiments, the at least one input device 1030 includes atleast one wagering or betting device. In various embodiments, the one ormore wagering or betting devices are each: (1) a mechanical buttonsupported by the housing of the EGM (such as a hard key or aprogrammable soft key), or (2) an icon displayed on a display device ofthe EGM (described below) that is actuatable via a touch screen of theEGM (described below) or via use of a suitable input device of the EGM(such as a mouse or a joystick). One such wagering or betting device isas a maximum wager or bet device that, when actuated, causes the EGM toplace a maximum wager on a play of a game. Another such wagering orbetting device is a repeat bet device that, when actuated, causes theEGM to place a wager that is equal to the previously-placed wager on aplay of a game. A further such wagering or betting device is a bet onedevice that, when actuated, causes the EGM to increase the wager by onecredit. Generally, upon actuation of one of the wagering or bettingdevices, the quantity of credits displayed in a credit meter (describedbelow) decreases by the amount of credits wagered, while the quantity ofcredits displayed in a bet display (described below) increases by theamount of credits wagered.

In various embodiments, the at least one input device 1030 includes atleast one game play activation device. In various embodiments, the oneor more game play initiation devices are each: (1) a mechanical buttonsupported by the housing of the EGM (such as a hard key or aprogrammable soft key), or (2) an icon displayed on a display device ofthe EGM (described below) that is actuatable via a touch screen of theEGM (described below) or via use of a suitable input device of the EGM(such as a mouse or a joystick). After a player appropriately funds theEGM and places a wager, the EGM activates the game play activationdevice to enable the player to actuate the game play activation deviceto initiate a play of a game on the EGM (or another suitable sequence ofevents associated with the EGM). After the EGM receives an actuation ofthe game play activation device, the EGM initiates the play of the game.The example EGMs 2000 a and 2000 b illustrated in FIGS. 5A and 5B eachinclude a game play activation device in the form of a game playinitiation button 2132. In other embodiments, the EGM begins game playautomatically upon appropriate funding rather than upon utilization ofthe game play activation device.

In other embodiments, the at least one input device 1030 includes acashout device. In various embodiments, the cashout device is: (1) amechanical button supported by the housing of the EGM (such as a hardkey or a programmable soft key), or (2) an icon displayed on a displaydevice of the EGM (described below) that is actuatable via a touchscreen of the EGM (described below) or via use of a suitable inputdevice of the EGM (such as a mouse or a joystick). When the EGM receivesan actuation of the cashout device from a player and the player has apositive (i.e., greater-than-zero) credit balance, the EGM initiates apayout associated with the player's credit balance. The example EGMs2000 a and 2000 b illustrated in FIGS. 5A and 5B each include a cashoutdevice in the form of a cashout button 2134.

In various embodiments, the at least one input device 1030 includes aplurality of buttons that are programmable by the EGM operator to, whenactuated, cause the EGM to perform particular functions. For instance,such buttons may be hard keys, programmable soft keys, or icons icondisplayed on a display device of the EGM (described below) that areactuatable via a touch screen of the EGM (described below) or via use ofa suitable input device of the EGM (such as a mouse or a joystick). Theexample EGMs 2000 a and 2000 b illustrated in FIGS. 5A and 5B eachinclude a plurality of such buttons 2130.

In certain embodiments, the at least one input device 1030 includes atouch-screen coupled to a touch-screen controller or othertouch-sensitive display overlay to enable interaction with any imagesdisplayed on a display device (as described below). One such inputdevice is a conventional touch-screen button panel. The touch-screen andthe touch-screen controller are connected to a video controller. Inthese embodiments, signals are input to the EGM by touching the touchscreen at the appropriate locations.

In embodiments including a player tracking system, as further describedbelow, the at least one input device 1030 includes a card reader incommunication with the at least one processor of the EGM. The exampleEGMs 2000 a and 2000 b illustrated in FIGS. 5A and 5B each include acard reader 2138. The card reader is configured to read a playeridentification card inserted into the card reader.

The at least one wireless communication component 1056 includes one ormore communication interfaces having different architectures andutilizing a variety of protocols, such as (but not limited to) 802.11(WiFi); 802.15 (including Bluetooth™); 802.16 (WiMax); 802.22; cellularstandards such as CDMA, CDMA2000, and WCDMA; Radio Frequency (e.g.,RFID); infrared; and Near Field Magnetic communication protocols. The atleast one wireless communication component 1056 transmits electrical,electromagnetic, or optical signals that carry digital data streams oranalog signals representing various types of information.

The at least one wired/wireless power distribution component 1058includes components or devices that are configured to provide power toother devices. For example, in one embodiment, the at least one powerdistribution component 1058 includes a magnetic induction system that isconfigured to provide wireless power to one or more user input devicesnear the EGM. In one embodiment, a user input device docking region isprovided, and includes a power distribution component that is configuredto recharge a user input device without requiring metal-to-metalcontact. In one embodiment, the at least one power distributioncomponent 1058 is configured to distribute power to one or more internalcomponents of the EGM, such as one or more rechargeable power sources(e.g., rechargeable batteries) located at the EGM.

In certain embodiments, the at least one sensor 1060 includes at leastone of: optical sensors, pressure sensors, RF sensors, infrared sensors,image sensors, thermal sensors, and biometric sensors. The at least onesensor 1060 may be used for a variety of functions, such as: detectingmovements and/or gestures of various objects within a predeterminedproximity to the EGM; detecting the presence and/or identity of variouspersons (e.g., players, casino employees, etc.), devices (e.g., userinput devices), and/or systems within a predetermined proximity to theEGM.

The at least one data preservation component 1062 is configured todetect or sense one or more events and/or conditions that, for example,may result in damage to the EGM and/or that may result in loss ofinformation associated with the EGM. Additionally, the data preservationsystem 1062 may be operable to initiate one or more appropriateaction(s) in response to the detection of such events/conditions.

The at least one motion/gesture analysis and interpretation component1064 is configured to analyze and/or interpret information relating todetected player movements and/or gestures to determine appropriateplayer input information relating to the detected player movementsand/or gestures. For example, in one embodiment, the at least onemotion/gesture analysis and interpretation component 1064 is configuredto perform one or more of the following functions: analyze the detectedgross motion or gestures of a player; interpret the player's motion orgestures (e.g., in the context of a casino game being played) toidentify instructions or input from the player; utilize the interpretedinstructions/input to advance the game state; etc. In other embodiments,at least a portion of these additional functions may be implemented at aremote system or device.

The at least one portable power source 1068 enables the EGM to operatein a mobile environment. For example, in one embodiment, the EGM 300includes one or more rechargeable batteries.

The at least one geolocation module 1076 is configured to acquiregeolocation information from one or more remote sources and use theacquired geolocation information to determine information relating to arelative and/or absolute position of the EGM. For example, in oneimplementation, the at least one geolocation module 1076 is configuredto receive GPS signal information for use in determining the position orlocation of the EGM. In another implementation, the at least onegeolocation module 1076 is configured to receive multiple wirelesssignals from multiple remote devices (e.g., EGMs, servers, wirelessaccess points, etc.) and use the signal information to computeposition/location information relating to the position or location ofthe EGM.

The at least one user identification module 1077 is configured todetermine the identity of the current user or current owner of the EGM.For example, in one embodiment, the current user is required to performa login process at the EGM in order to access one or more features.Alternatively, the EGM is configured to automatically determine theidentity of the current user based on one or more external signals, suchas an RFID tag or badge worn by the current user and that provides awireless signal to the EGM that is used to determine the identity of thecurrent user. In at least one embodiment, various security features areincorporated into the EGM to prevent unauthorized users from accessingconfidential or sensitive information.

The at least one information filtering module 1079 is configured toperform filtering (e.g., based on specified criteria) of selectedinformation to be displayed at one or more displays 1035 of the EGM.

In various embodiments, the EGM includes a plurality of communicationports configured to enable the at least one processor of the EGM tocommunicate with and to operate with external peripherals, such as:accelerometers, arcade sticks, bar code readers, bill validators,biometric input devices, bonus devices, button panels, card readers,coin dispensers, coin hoppers, display screens or other displays orvideo sources, expansion buses, information panels, keypads, lights,mass storage devices, microphones, motion sensors, motors, printers,reels, SCSI ports, solenoids, speakers, thumbsticks, ticket readers,touch screens, trackballs, touchpads, wheels, and wireless communicationdevices. U.S. Pat. No. 7,290,072 describes a variety of EGMs includingone or more communication ports that enable the EGMs to communicate andoperate with one or more external peripherals.

As generally described above, in certain embodiments, such as theexample EGMs 2000 a and 2000 b illustrated in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the EGMhas a support structure, housing, or cabinet that provides support for aplurality of the input devices and the output devices of the EGM.Further, the EGM is configured such that a player may operate it whilestanding or sitting. In various embodiments, the EGM is positioned on abase or stand, or is configured as a pub-style tabletop game (not shown)that a player may operate typically while sitting. As illustrated by thedifferent example EGMs 2000 a and 2000 b shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, EGMsmay have varying housing and display configurations.

In certain embodiments, the EGM is a device that has obtained approvalfrom a regulatory gaming commission, and in other embodiments, the EGMis a device that has not obtained approval from a regulatory gamingcommission.

The EGMs described above are merely three examples of different types ofEGMs. Certain of these example EGMs may include one or more elementsthat may not be included in all gaming systems, and these example EGMsmay not include one or more elements that are included in other gamingsystems. For example, certain EGMs include a coin acceptor while othersdo not.

Operation of Primary or Base Games and/or Secondary or Bonus Games

In various embodiments, an EGM may be implemented in one of a variety ofdifferent configurations. In various embodiments, the EGM may beimplemented as one of: (a) a dedicated EGM in which computerized gameprograms executable by the EGM for controlling any primary or base games(referred to herein as “primary games”) and/or any secondary or bonusgames or other functions (referred to herein as “secondary games”)displayed by the EGM are provided with the EGM before delivery to agaming establishment or before being provided to a player; and (b) achangeable EGM in which computerized game programs executable by the EGMfor controlling any primary games and/or secondary games displayed bythe EGM are downloadable or otherwise transferred to the EGM through adata network or remote communication link; from a USB drive, flashmemory card, or other suitable memory device; or in any other suitablemanner after the EGM is physically located in a gaming establishment orafter the EGM is provided to a player.

As generally explained above, in various embodiments in which the gamingsystem includes a central server, central controller, or remote host anda changeable EGM, the at least one memory device of the central server,central controller, or remote host stores different game programs andinstructions executable by the at least one processor of the changeableEGM to control one or more primary games and/or secondary gamesdisplayed by the changeable EGM. More specifically, each such executablegame program represents a different game or a different type of gamethat the at least one changeable EGM is configured to operate. In oneexample, certain of the game programs are executable by the changeableEGM to operate games having the same or substantially the same game playbut different paytables. In different embodiments, each executable gameprogram is associated with a primary game, a secondary game, or both. Incertain embodiments, an executable game program is executable by the atleast one processor of the at least one changeable EGM as a secondarygame to be played simultaneously with a play of a primary game (whichmay be downloaded to or otherwise stored on the at least one changeableEGM), or vice versa.

In operation of such embodiments, the central server, centralcontroller, or remote host is configured to communicate one or more ofthe stored executable game programs to the at least one processor of thechangeable EGM. In different embodiments, a stored executable gameprogram is communicated or delivered to the at least one processor ofthe changeable EGM by: (a) embedding the executable game program in adevice or a component (such as a microchip to be inserted into thechangeable EGM); (b) writing the executable game program onto a disc orother media; or (c) uploading or streaming the executable game programover a data network (such as a dedicated data network). After theexecutable game program is communicated from the central server, centralcontroller, or remote host to the changeable EGM, the at least oneprocessor of the changeable EGM executes the executable game program toenable the primary game and/or the secondary game associated with thatexecutable game program to be played using the display device(s) and/orthe input device(s) of the changeable EGM. That is, when an executablegame program is communicated to the at least one processor of thechangeable EGM, the at least one processor of the changeable EGM changesthe game or the type of game that may be played using the changeableEGM.

In certain embodiments, the gaming system randomly determines any gameoutcome(s) (such as a win outcome) and/or award(s) (such as a quantityof credits to award for the win outcome) for a play of a primary gameand/or a play of a secondary game based on probability data. In certainsuch embodiments, this random determination is provided throughutilization of an RNG, such as a true RNG or a pseudo RNG, or any othersuitable randomization process. In one such embodiment, each gameoutcome or award is associated with a probability, and the gaming systemgenerates the game outcome(s) and/or the award(s) to be provided basedon the associated probabilities. In these embodiments, since the gamingsystem generates game outcomes and/or awards randomly or based on one ormore probability calculations, there is no certainty that the gamingsystem will ever provide any specific game outcome and/or award.

In certain embodiments, the gaming system maintains one or morepredetermined pools or sets of predetermined game outcomes and/orawards. In certain such embodiments, upon generation or receipt of agame outcome and/or award request, the gaming system independentlyselects one of the predetermined game outcomes and/or awards from theone or more pools or sets. The gaming system flags or marks the selectedgame outcome and/or award as used. Once a game outcome or an award isflagged as used, it is prevented from further selection from itsrespective pool or set; that is, the gaming system does not select thatgame outcome or award upon another game outcome and/or award request.The gaming system provides the selected game outcome and/or award.Examples of this type of award evaluation are described in U.S. Pat. No.7,470,183, entitled “Finite Pool Gaming Method and Apparatus”; U.S. Pat.No. 7,563,163, entitled “Gaming Device Including Outcome Pools forProviding Game Outcomes”; U.S. Pat. No. 7,833,092, entitled “Method andSystem for Compensating for Player Choice in a Game of Chance”; U.S.Pat. No. 8,070,579, entitled “Bingo System with Downloadable CommonPatterns”; and U.S. Pat. No. 8,398,472, entitled “Central DeterminationPoker Game,” which are incorporated herein by reference.

In certain embodiments, the gaming system determines a predeterminedgame outcome and/or award based on the results of a bingo, keno, orlottery game. In certain such embodiments, the gaming system utilizesone or more bingo, keno, or lottery games to determine the predeterminedgame outcome and/or award provided for a primary game and/or a secondarygame. The gaming system is provided or associated with a bingo card.Each bingo card consists of a matrix or array of elements, wherein eachelement is designated with separate indicia. After a bingo card isprovided, the gaming system randomly selects or draws a plurality of theelements. As each element is selected, a determination is made as towhether the selected element is present on the bingo card. If theselected element is present on the bingo card, that selected element onthe provided bingo card is marked or flagged. This process of selectingelements and marking any selected elements on the provided bingo cardscontinues until one or more predetermined patterns are marked on one ormore of the provided bingo cards. After one or more predeterminedpatterns are marked on one or more of the provided bingo cards, gameoutcome and/or award is determined based, at least in part, on theselected elements on the provided bingo cards. Examples of this type ofaward determination are described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,753,774, entitled“Using Multiple Bingo Cards to Represent Multiple Slot Paylines andOther Class III Game Options”; U.S. Pat. No. 7,731,581, entitled“Multi-Player Bingo Game with Multiple Alternative Outcome Displays”;U.S. Pat. No. 7,955,170, entitled “Providing Non-Bingo Outcomes for aBingo Game”; U.S. Pat. No. 8,070,579, entitled “Bingo System withDownloadable Common Patterns”; and U.S. Pat. No. 8,500,538, entitled“Bingo Gaming System and Method for Providing Multiple Outcomes fromSingle Bingo Pattern,” which are incorporated herein by reference.

In certain embodiments in which the gaming system includes a centralserver, central controller, or remote host and an EGM, the EGM isconfigured to communicate with the central server, central controller,or remote host for monitoring purposes only. In such embodiments, theEGM determines the game outcome(s) and/or award(s) to be provided in anyof the manners described above, and the central server, centralcontroller, or remote host monitors the activities and events occurringon the EGM. In one such embodiment, the gaming system includes areal-time or online accounting and gaming information system configuredto communicate with the central server, central controller, or remotehost. In this embodiment, the accounting and gaming information systemincludes: (a) a player database configured to store player profiles, (b)a player tracking module configured to track players (as describedbelow), and (c) a credit system configured to provide automatedtransactions. Examples of such accounting systems are described in U.S.Pat. No. 6,913,534, entitled “Gaming Machine Having a Lottery Game andCapability for Integration with Gaming Device Accounting System andPlayer Tracking System,” and U.S. Pat. No. 8,597,116, entitled “VirtualPlayer Tracking and Related Services,” which are incorporated herein byreference.

As noted above, in various embodiments, the gaming system includes oneor more executable game programs executable by at least one processor ofthe gaming system to provide one or more primary games and one or moresecondary games. The primary game(s) and the secondary game(s) maycomprise any suitable games and/or wagering games, such as, but notlimited to: electro-mechanical or video slot or spinning reel typegames; video card games such as video draw poker, multi-hand video drawpoker, other video poker games, video blackjack games, and videobaccarat games; video keno games; video bingo games; and video selectiongames.

In certain embodiments in which the primary game is a slot or spinningreel type game, the gaming system includes one or more reels in eitheran electromechanical form with mechanical rotating reels or in a videoform with simulated reels and movement thereof. Each reel displays aplurality of indicia or symbols, such as bells, hearts, fruits, numbers,letters, bars, or other images that typically correspond to a themeassociated with the gaming system. In certain such embodiments, thegaming system includes one or more paylines associated with the reels.The example EGM 2000 b shown in FIG. 5B includes a payline 1152 and aplurality of reels 1154. In certain embodiments, one or more of thereels are independent reels or unisymbol reels. In such embodiments,each independent reel generates and displays one symbol.

In various embodiments, one or more of the paylines is horizontal,vertical, circular, diagonal, angled, or any suitable combinationthereof. In other embodiments, each of one or more of the paylines isassociated with a plurality of adjacent symbol display areas on arequisite number of adjacent reels. In one such embodiment, one or morepaylines are formed between at least two symbol display areas that areadjacent to each other by either sharing a common side or sharing acommon corner (i.e., such paylines are connected paylines). The gamingsystem enables a wager to be placed on one or more of such paylines toactivate such paylines. In other embodiments in which one or morepaylines are formed between at least two adjacent symbol display areas,the gaming system enables a wager to be placed on a plurality of symboldisplay areas, which activates those symbol display areas.

In various embodiments, the gaming system provides one or more awardsafter a spin of the reels when specified types and/or configurations ofthe indicia or symbols on the reels occur on an active payline orotherwise occur in a winning pattern, occur on the requisite number ofadjacent reels, and/or occur in a scatter pay arrangement.

In certain embodiments, the gaming system employs a ways to win awarddetermination. In these embodiments, any outcome to be provided isdetermined based on a number of associated symbols that are generated inactive symbol display areas on the requisite number of adjacent reels(i.e., not on paylines passing through any displayed winning symbolcombinations). If a winning symbol combination is generated on thereels, one award for that occurrence of the generated winning symbolcombination is provided. Examples of ways to win award determinationsare described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,012,011, entitled “Gaming Device andMethod Having Independent Reels and Multiple Ways of Winning”; U.S. Pat.No. 8,241,104, entitled “Gaming Device and Method Having DesignatedRules for Determining Ways To Win”; and U.S. Pat. No. 8,430,739,entitled “Gaming System and Method Having Wager Dependent DifferentSymbol Evaluations,” which are incorporated herein by reference.

In various embodiments, the gaming system includes a progressive award.Typically, a progressive award includes an initial amount and anadditional amount funded through a portion of each wager placed toinitiate a play of a primary game. When one or more triggering eventsoccurs, the gaming system provides at least a portion of the progressiveaward. After the gaming system provides the progressive award, an amountof the progressive award is reset to the initial amount and a portion ofeach subsequent wager is allocated to the next progressive award.Examples of progressive gaming systems are described in U.S. Pat. No.7,585,223, entitled “Server Based Gaming System Having MultipleProgressive Awards”; U.S. Pat. No. 7,651,392, entitled “Gaming DeviceSystem Having Partial Progressive Payout”; U.S. Pat. No. 7,666,093,entitled “Gaming Method and Device Involving Progressive Wagers”; U.S.Pat. No. 7,780,523, entitled “Server Based Gaming System Having MultipleProgressive Awards”; and U.S. Pat. No. 8,337,298, entitled “GamingDevice Having Multiple Different Types of Progressive Awards,” which areincorporated herein by reference

As generally noted above, in addition to providing winning credits orother awards for one or more plays of the primary game(s), in variousembodiments the gaming system provides credits or other awards for oneor more plays of one or more secondary games. The secondary gametypically enables an award to be obtained addition to any award obtainedthrough play of the primary game(s). The secondary game(s) typicallyproduces a higher level of player excitement than the primary game(s)because the secondary game(s) provides a greater expectation of winningthan the primary game(s) and is accompanied with more attractive orunusual features than the primary game(s). The secondary game(s) may beany type of suitable game, either similar to or completely differentfrom the primary game.

In various embodiments, the gaming system automatically provides orinitiates the secondary game upon the occurrence of a triggering eventor the satisfaction of a qualifying condition. In other embodiments, thegaming system initiates the secondary game upon the occurrence of thetriggering event or the satisfaction of the qualifying condition andupon receipt of an initiation input. In certain embodiments, thetriggering event or qualifying condition is a selected outcome in theprimary game(s) or a particular arrangement of one or more indicia on adisplay device for a play of the primary game(s), such as a “BONUS”symbol appearing on three adjacent reels along a payline following aspin of the reels for a play of the primary game. In other embodiments,the triggering event or qualifying condition occurs based on a certainamount of game play (such as number of games, number of credits, amountof time) being exceeded, or based on a specified number of points beingearned during game play. Any suitable triggering event or qualifyingcondition or any suitable combination of a plurality of differenttriggering events or qualifying conditions may be employed.

In other embodiments, at least one processor of the gaming systemrandomly determines when to provide one or more plays of one or moresecondary games. In one such embodiment, no apparent reason is providedfor providing the secondary game. In this embodiment, qualifying for asecondary game is not triggered by the occurrence of an event in anyprimary game or based specifically on any of the plays of any primarygame. That is, qualification is provided without any explanation or,alternatively, with a simple explanation. In another such embodiment,the gaming system determines qualification for a secondary game at leastpartially based on a game triggered or symbol triggered event, such asat least partially based on play of a primary game.

In various embodiments, after qualification for a secondary game hasbeen determined, the secondary game participation may be enhancedthrough continued play on the primary game. Thus, in certainembodiments, for each secondary game qualifying event, such as asecondary game symbol, that is obtained, a given number of secondarygame wagering points or credits is accumulated in a “secondary gamemeter” configured to accrue the secondary game wagering credits orentries toward eventual participation in the secondary game. In one suchembodiment, the occurrence of multiple such secondary game qualifyingevents in the primary game results in an arithmetic or exponentialincrease in the number of secondary game wagering credits awarded. Inanother such embodiment, any extra secondary game wagering credits maybe redeemed during the secondary game to extend play of the secondarygame.

In certain embodiments, no separate entry fee or buy-in for thesecondary game is required. That is, entry into the secondary gamecannot be purchased; rather, in these embodiments entry must be won orearned through play of the primary game, thereby encouraging play of theprimary game. In other embodiments, qualification for the secondary gameis accomplished through a simple “buy-in.” For example, qualificationthrough other specified activities is unsuccessful, payment of a fee orplacement of an additional wager “buys-in” to the secondary game. Incertain embodiments, a separate side wager must be placed on thesecondary game or a wager of a designated amount must be placed on theprimary game to enable qualification for the secondary game. In theseembodiments, the secondary game triggering event must occur and the sidewager (or designated primary game wager amount) must have been placedfor the secondary game to trigger.

In various embodiments in which the gaming system includes a pluralityof EGMs, the EGMs are configured to communicate with one another toprovide a group gaming environment. In certain such embodiments, theEGMs enable players of those EGMs to work in conjunction with oneanother, such as by enabling the players to play together as a team orgroup, to win one or more awards. In other such embodiments, the EGMsenable players of those EGMs to compete against one another for one ormore awards. In one such embodiment, the EGMs enable the players ofthose EGMs to participate in one or more gaming tournaments for one ormore awards. Examples of group gaming systems are described in U.S. Pat.No. 8,070,583, entitled “Server Based Gaming System and Method forSelectively Providing One or More Different Tournaments”; U.S. Pat. No.8,500,548, entitled “Gaming System and Method for Providing TeamProgressive Awards”; and U.S. Pat. No. 8,562,423, entitled “Method andApparatus for Rewarding Multiple Game Players for a Single Win,” whichare incorporated herein by reference.

In various embodiments, the gaming system includes one or more playertracking systems. Such player tracking systems enable operators of thegaming system (such as casinos or other gaming establishments) torecognize the value of customer loyalty by identifying frequentcustomers and rewarding them for their patronage. Such a player trackingsystem is configured to track a player's gaming activity. In one suchembodiment, the player tracking system does so through the use of playertracking cards. In this embodiment, a player is issued a playeridentification card that has an encoded player identification numberthat uniquely identifies the player. When the player's playing trackingcard is inserted into a card reader of the gaming system to begin agaming session, the card reader reads the player identification numberoff the player tracking card to identify the player. The gaming systemtimely tracks any suitable information or data relating to theidentified player's gaming session. The gaming system also timely trackswhen the player tracking card is removed to conclude play for thatgaming session. In another embodiment, rather than requiring insertionof a player tracking card into the card reader, the gaming systemutilizes one or more portable devices, such as a mobile phone, a radiofrequency identification tag, or any other suitable wireless device, totrack when a gaming session begins and ends. In another embodiment, thegaming system utilizes any suitable biometric technology or tickettechnology to track when a gaming session begins and ends.

In such embodiments, during one or more gaming sessions, the gamingsystem tracks any suitable information or data, such as any amountswagered, average wager amounts, and/or the time at which these wagersare placed. In different embodiments, for one or more players, theplayer tracking system includes the player's account number, theplayer's card number, the player's first name, the player's surname, theplayer's preferred name, the player's player tracking ranking, anypromotion status associated with the player's player tracking card, theplayer's address, the player's birthday, the player's anniversary, theplayer's recent gaming sessions, or any other suitable data. In variousembodiments, such tracked information and/or any suitable featureassociated with the player tracking system is displayed on a playertracking display. In various embodiments, such tracked informationand/or any suitable feature associated with the player tracking systemis displayed via one or more service windows that are displayed on thecentral display device and/or the upper display device. Examples ofplayer tracking systems are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,722,985,entitled “Universal Player Tracking System”; U.S. Pat. No. 6,908,387,entitled “Player Tracking Communication Mechanisms in a Gaming Machine”;U.S. Pat. No. 7,311,605, entitled “Player Tracking Assembly for CompletePatron Tracking for Both Gaming and Non-Gaming Casino Activity”; U.S.Pat. No. 7,611,411, entitled “Player Tracking Instruments HavingMultiple Communication Modes”; U.S. Pat. No. 7,617,151, entitled“Alternative Player Tracking Techniques”; and U.S. Pat. No. 8,057,298,entitled “Virtual Player Tracking and Related Services,” which areincorporated herein by reference.

Web-Based Gaming

In various embodiments, the gaming system includes one or more serversconfigured to communicate with a personal gaming device—such as asmartphone, a tablet computer, a desktop computer, or a laptopcomputer—to enable web-based game play using the personal gaming device.In various embodiments, the player must first access a gaming websitevia an Internet browser of the personal gaming device or execute anapplication (commonly called an “app”) installed on the personal gamingdevice before the player can use the personal gaming device toparticipate in web-based game play. In certain embodiments, the one ormore servers and the personal gaming device operate in a thin-clientenvironment. In these embodiments, the personal gaming device receivesinputs via one or more input devices (such as a touch screen and/orphysical buttons), the personal gaming device sends the received inputsto the one or more servers, the one or more servers make variousdeterminations based on the inputs and determine content to be displayed(such as a randomly determined game outcome and corresponding award),the one or more servers send the content to the personal gaming device,and the personal gaming device displays the content.

In certain such embodiments, the one or more servers must identify theplayer before enabling game play on the personal gaming device (or, insome embodiments, before enabling monetary wager-based game play on thepersonal gaming device). In these embodiments, the player must identifyherself to the one or more servers, such as by inputting the player'sunique username and password combination (or in any other mannersdescribed above.

Once identified, the one or more servers enable the player to establishan account balance from which the player can draw credits usable towager on plays of a game. In certain embodiments, the one or moreservers enable the player to initiate an electronic funds transfer totransfer funds from a bank account to the player's account balance. Inother embodiments, the one or more servers enable the player to make apayment using the player's credit card, debit card, or other suitabledevice to add money to the player's account balance. In otherembodiments, the one or more servers enable the player to add money tothe player's account balance via a peer-to-peer type application, suchas PayPal or Venmo. The one or more servers also enable the player tocash out the player's account balance (or part of it) in any suitablemanner, such as via an electronic funds transfer or by initiatingcreation of a paper check that is mailed to the player.

In certain embodiments, the one or more servers include a payment serverthat handles establishing and cashing out players' account balances anda separate game server configured to determine the outcome and anyassociated award for a play of a game. In these embodiments, the gameserver is configured to communicate with the personal gaming device andthe payment device, and the personal gaming device and the paymentdevice are not configured to directly communicate with one another. Inthese embodiments, when the game server receives data representing arequest to start a play of a game at a desired wager, the game serversends data representing the desired wager to the payment server. Thepayment server determines whether the player's account balance can coverthe desired wager (i.e., includes a monetary balance at least equal tothe desired wager).

If the payment server determines that the player's account balancecannot cover the desired wager, the payment server notifies the gameserver, which then instructs the personal gaming device to display asuitable notification to the player that the player's account balance istoo low to place the desired wager. If the payment server determinesthat the player's account balance can cover the desired wager, thepayment server deducts the desired wager from the account balance andnotifies the game server. The game server then determines an outcome andany associated award for the play of the game. The game server notifiesthe payment server of any nonzero award, and the payment serverincreases the player's account balance by the nonzero award. The gameserver sends data representing the outcome and any award to the personalgaming device, which displays the outcome and any award.

In certain embodiments, the one or more servers enable web-based gameplay using a personal gaming device only if the personal gaming devicesatisfies one or more jurisdictional requirements. In one embodiment,the one or more servers enable web-based game play using the personalgaming device only if the personal gaming device is located within adesignated geographic area (such as within certain state or countylines). In this embodiment, the geolocation module of the personalgaming device determines the location of the personal gaming device andsends the location to the one or more servers, which determine whetherthe personal gaming device is located within the designated geographicarea. In various embodiments, the one or more servers enablenon-monetary wager-based game play if the personal gaming device islocated outside of the designated geographic area.

In various embodiments, the gaming system includes an EGM configured tocommunicate with a personal gaming device—such as a smartphone, a tabletcomputer, a desktop computer, or a laptop computer—to enable tetheredmobile game play using the personal gaming device. Generally, in theseembodiments, the EGM establishes communication with the personal gamingdevice and enables the player to play games on the EGM remotely via thepersonal gaming device. In certain embodiments, the gaming systemincludes a geo-fence system that enables tethered game play within aparticular geographic area but not outside of that geographic area.Examples of tethering an EGM to a personal gaming device and geo-fencingare described in U.S. Patent Appl. Pub. No. 2013/0267324, entitled“Remote Gaming Method Allowing Temporary Inactivation WithoutTerminating Playing Session Due to Game Inactivity,” which isincorporated herein by reference.

Social Network Integration

In certain embodiments, the gaming system is configured to communicatewith a social network server that hosts or partially hosts a socialnetworking website via a data network (such as the Internet) tointegrate a player's gaming experience with the player's socialnetworking account. This enables the gaming system to send certaininformation to the social network server that the social network servercan use to create content (such as text, an image, and/or a video) andpost it to the player's wall, newsfeed, or similar area of the socialnetworking website accessible by the player's connections (and incertain cases the public) such that the player's connections can viewthat information. This also enables the gaming system to receive certaininformation from the social network server, such as the player's likesor dislikes or the player's list of connections. In certain embodiments,the gaming system enables the player to link the player's player accountto the player's social networking account(s). This enables the gamingsystem to, once it identifies the player and initiates a gaming session(such as via the player logging in to a website (or an application) onthe player's personal gaming device or via the player inserting theplayer's player tracking card into an EGM), link that gaming session tothe player's social networking account(s). In other embodiments, thegaming system enables the player to link the player's social networkingaccount(s) to individual gaming sessions when desired by providing therequired login information.

For instance, in one embodiment, if a player wins a particular award(e.g., a progressive award or a jackpot award) or an award that exceedsa certain threshold (e.g., an award exceeding $1,000), the gaming systemsends information about the award to the social network server to enablethe server to create associated content (such as a screenshot of theoutcome and associated award) and to post that content to the player'swall (or other suitable area) of the social networking website for theplayer's connections to see (and to entice them to play). In anotherembodiment, if a player joins a multiplayer game and there is anotherseat available, the gaming system sends that information to the socialnetwork sever to enable the server to create associated content (such astext indicating a vacancy for that particular game) and to post thatcontent to the player's wall (or other suitable area) of the socialnetworking website for the player's connections to see (and to enticethem to fill the vacancy). In another embodiment, if the playerconsents, the gaming system sends advertisement information or offerinformation to the social network server to enable the social networkserver to create associated content (such as text or an image reflectingan advertisement and/or an offer) and to post that content to theplayer's wall (or other suitable area) of the social networking websitefor the player's connections to see. In another embodiment, the gamingsystem enables the player to recommend a game to the player'sconnections by posting a recommendation to the player's wall (or othersuitable area) of the social networking website.

Differentiating Certain Gaming Systems From General Purpose ComputingDevices

Certain of the gaming systems described herein, such as EGMs located ina casino or another gaming establishment, include certain componentsand/or are configured to operate in certain manners that differentiatethese systems from general purpose computing devices, i.e., certainpersonal gaming devices such as desktop computers and laptop computers.

For instance, EGMs are highly regulated to ensure fairness and, in manycases, EGMs are configured to award monetary awards up to multiplemillions of dollars. To satisfy security and regulatory requirements ina gaming environment, hardware and/or software architectures areimplemented in EGMs that differ significantly from those of generalpurpose computing devices. For purposes of illustration, a descriptionof EGMs relative to general purpose computing devices and some examplesof these additional (or different) hardware and/or softwarearchitectures found in EGMs are described below.

At first glance, one might think that adapting general purpose computingdevice technologies to the gaming industry and EGMs would be a simpleproposition because both general purpose computing devices and EGMsemploy processors that control a variety of devices. However, due to atleast: (1) the regulatory requirements placed on EGMs, (2) the harshenvironment in which EGMs operate, (3) security requirements, and (4)fault tolerance requirements, adapting general purpose computing devicetechnologies to EGMs can be quite difficult. Further, techniques andmethods for solving a problem in the general purpose computing deviceindustry, such as device compatibility and connectivity issues, mightnot be adequate in the gaming industry. For instance, a fault or aweakness tolerated in a general purpose computing device, such assecurity holes in software or frequent crashes, is not tolerated in anEGM because in an EGM these faults can lead to a direct loss of fundsfrom the EGM, such as stolen cash or loss of revenue when the EGM is notoperating properly or when the random outcome determination ismanipulated.

Certain differences between general purpose computing devices and EGMsare described below. A first difference between EGMs and general purposecomputing devices is that EGMs are state-based systems. A state-basedsystem stores and maintains its current state in a non-volatile memorysuch that, in the event of a power failure or other malfunction, thestate-based system can return to that state when the power is restoredor the malfunction is remedied. For instance, for a state-based EGM, ifthe EGM displays an award for a game of chance but the power to the EGMfails before the EGM provides the award to the player, the EGM storesthe pre-power failure state in a non-volatile memory, returns to thatstate upon restoration of power, and provides the award to the player.This requirement affects the software and hardware design on EGMs.General purpose computing devices are not state-based machines, and amajority of data is usually lost when a malfunction occurs on a generalpurpose computing device.

A second difference between EGMs and general purpose computing devicesis that, for regulatory purposes, the software on the EGM utilized tooperate the EGM has been designed to be static and monolithic to preventcheating by the operator of the EGM. For instance, one solution that hasbeen employed in the gaming industry to prevent cheating and to satisfyregulatory requirements has been to manufacture an EGM that can use aproprietary processor running instructions to provide the game of chancefrom an EPROM or other form of non-volatile memory. The codinginstructions on the EPROM are static (non-changeable) and must beapproved by a gaming regulators in a particular jurisdiction andinstalled in the presence of a person representing the gamingjurisdiction. Any changes to any part of the software required togenerate the game of chance, such as adding a new device driver used tooperate a device during generation of the game of chance, can requireburning a new EPROM approved by the gaming jurisdiction and reinstallingthe new EPROM on the EGM in the presence of a gaming regulator.Regardless of whether the EPROM solution is used, to gain approval inmost gaming jurisdictions, an EGM must demonstrate sufficient safeguardsthat prevent an operator or a player of an EGM from manipulating theEGM's hardware and software in a manner that gives him an unfair, and insome cases illegal, advantage.

A third difference between EGMs and general purpose computing devices isauthentication—EGMs storing code are configured to authenticate the codeto determine if the code is unaltered before executing the code. If thecode has been altered, the EGM prevents the code from being executed.The code authentication requirements in the gaming industry affect bothhardware and software designs on EGMs. Certain EGMs use hash functionsto authenticate code. For instance, one EGM stores game program code, ahash function, and an authentication hash (which may be encrypted).Before executing the game program code, the EGM hashes the game programcode using the hash function to obtain a result hash and compares theresult hash to the authentication hash. If the result hash matches theauthentication hash, the EGM determines that the game program code isvalid and executes the game program code. If the result hash does notmatch the authentication hash, the EGM determines that the game programcode has been altered (i.e., may have been tampered with) and preventsexecution of the game program code. Examples of EGM code authenticationare described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,962,530, entitled “Authentication in aSecure Computerized Gaming System”; U.S. Pat. No. 7,043,641, entitled“Encryption in a Secure Computerized Gaming System”; U.S. Pat. No.7,201,662, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Software Authentication”;and U.S. Pat. No. 8,627,097, entitled “System and Method EnablingParallel Processing of Hash Functions Using Authentication CheckpointHashes,” which are incorporated herein by reference.

A fourth difference between EGMs and general purpose computing devicesis that EGMs have unique peripheral device requirements that differ fromthose of a general purpose computing device, such as peripheral devicesecurity requirements not usually addressed by general purpose computingdevices. For instance, monetary devices, such as coin dispensers, billvalidators, and ticket printers and computing devices that are used togovern the input and output of cash or other items having monetary value(such as tickets) to and from an EGM have security requirements that arenot typically addressed in general purpose computing devices. Therefore,many general purpose computing device techniques and methods developedto facilitate device connectivity and device compatibility do notaddress the emphasis placed on security in the gaming industry.

To address some of the issues described above, a number ofhardware/software components and architectures are utilized in EGMs thatare not typically found in general purpose computing devices. Thesehardware/software components and architectures, as described below inmore detail, include but are not limited to watchdog timers, voltagemonitoring systems, state-based software architecture and supportinghardware, specialized communication interfaces, security monitoring, andtrusted memory.

Certain EGMs use a watchdog timer to provide a software failuredetection mechanism. In a normally-operating EGM, the operating softwareperiodically accesses control registers in the watchdog timer subsystemto “re-trigger” the watchdog. Should the operating software fail toaccess the control registers within a preset timeframe, the watchdogtimer will timeout and generate a system reset. Typical watchdog timercircuits include a loadable timeout counter register to enable theoperating software to set the timeout interval within a certain range oftime. A differentiating feature of some circuits is that the operatingsoftware cannot completely disable the function of the watchdog timer.In other words, the watchdog timer always functions from the time poweris applied to the board.

Certain EGMs use several power supply voltages to operate portions ofthe computer circuitry. These can be generated in a central power supplyor locally on the computer board. If any of these voltages falls out ofthe tolerance limits of the circuitry they power, unpredictableoperation of the EGM may result. Though most modern general purposecomputing devices include voltage monitoring circuitry, these types ofcircuits only report voltage status to the operating software. Out oftolerance voltages can cause software malfunction, creating a potentialuncontrolled condition in the general purpose computing device. CertainEGMs have power supplies with relatively tighter voltage margins thanthat required by the operating circuitry. In addition, the voltagemonitoring circuitry implemented in certain EGMs typically has twothresholds of control. The first threshold generates a software eventthat can be detected by the operating software and an error conditionthen generated. This threshold is triggered when a power supply voltagefalls out of the tolerance range of the power supply, but is stillwithin the operating range of the circuitry. The second threshold is setwhen a power supply voltage falls out of the operating tolerance of thecircuitry. In this case, the circuitry generates a reset, haltingoperation of the EGM.

As described above, certain EGMs are state-based machines. Differentfunctions of the game provided by the EGM (e.g., bet, play, result,points in the graphical presentation, etc.) may be defined as a state.When the EGM moves a game from one state to another, the EGM storescritical data regarding the game software in a custom non-volatilememory subsystem. This ensures that the player's wager and credits arepreserved and to minimize potential disputes in the event of amalfunction on the EGM. In general, the EGM does not advance from afirst state to a second state until critical information that enablesthe first state to be reconstructed has been stored. This featureenables the EGM to recover operation to the current state of play in theevent of a malfunction, loss of power, etc. that occurred just beforethe malfunction. In at least one embodiment, the EGM is configured tostore such critical information using atomic transactions.

Generally, an atomic operation in computer science refers to a set ofoperations that can be combined so that they appear to the rest of thesystem to be a single operation with only two possible outcomes: successor failure. As related to data storage, an atomic transaction may becharacterized as series of database operations which either all occur,or all do not occur. A guarantee of atomicity prevents updates to thedatabase occurring only partially, which can result in data corruption.

To ensure the success of atomic transactions relating to criticalinformation to be stored in the EGM memory before a failure event (e.g.,malfunction, loss of power, etc.), memory that includes one or more ofthe following criteria be used: direct memory access capability; dataread/write capability which meets or exceeds minimum read/write accesscharacteristics (such as at least 5.08 Mbytes/sec (Read) and/or at least38.0 Mbytes/sec (Write)). Memory devices that meet or exceed the abovecriteria may be referred to as “fault-tolerant” memory devices.

Typically, battery-backed RAM devices may be configured to function asfault-tolerant devices according to the above criteria, whereas flashRAM and/or disk drive memory are typically not configurable to functionas fault-tolerant devices according to the above criteria. Accordingly,battery-backed RAM devices are typically used to preserve EGM criticaldata, although other types of non-volatile memory devices may beemployed. These memory devices are typically not used in typical generalpurpose computing devices.

Thus, in at least one embodiment, the EGM is configured to storecritical information in fault-tolerant memory (e.g., battery-backed RAMdevices) using atomic transactions. Further, in at least one embodiment,the fault-tolerant memory is able to successfully complete all desiredatomic transactions (e.g., relating to the storage of EGM criticalinformation) within a time period of 200 milliseconds or less. In atleast one embodiment, the time period of 200 milliseconds represents amaximum amount of time for which sufficient power may be available tothe various EGM components after a power outage event has occurred atthe EGM.

As described previously, the EGM may not advance from a first state to asecond state until critical information that enables the first state tobe reconstructed has been atomically stored. After the state of the EGMis restored during the play of a game of chance, game play may resumeand the game may be completed in a manner that is no different than ifthe malfunction had not occurred. Thus, for example, when a malfunctionoccurs during a game of chance, the EGM may be restored to a state inthe game of chance just before when the malfunction occurred. Therestored state may include metering information and graphicalinformation that was displayed on the EGM in the state before themalfunction. For example, when the malfunction occurs during the play ofa card game after the cards have been dealt, the EGM may be restoredwith the cards that were previously displayed as part of the card game.As another example, a bonus game may be triggered during the play of agame of chance in which a player is required to make a number ofselections on a video display screen. When a malfunction has occurredafter the player has made one or more selections, the EGM may berestored to a state that shows the graphical presentation just beforethe malfunction including an indication of selections that have alreadybeen made by the player. In general, the EGM may be restored to anystate in a plurality of states that occur in the game of chance thatoccurs while the game of chance is played or to states that occurbetween the play of a game of chance.

Game history information regarding previous games played such as anamount wagered, the outcome of the game, and the like may also be storedin a non-volatile memory device. The information stored in thenon-volatile memory may be detailed enough to reconstruct a portion ofthe graphical presentation that was previously presented on the EGM andthe state of the EGM (e.g., credits) at the time the game of chance wasplayed. The game history information may be utilized in the event of adispute. For example, a player may decide that in a previous game ofchance that they did not receive credit for an award that they believedthey won. The game history information may be used to reconstruct thestate of the EGM before, during, and/or after the disputed game todemonstrate whether the player was correct or not in the player'sassertion. Examples of a state-based EGM, recovery from malfunctions,and game history are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,804,763, entitled“High Performance Battery Backed RAM Interface”; U.S. Pat. No.6,863,608, entitled “Frame Capture of Actual Game Play”; U.S. Pat. No.7,111,141, entitled “Dynamic NV-RAM”; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,384,339,entitled, “Frame Capture of Actual Game Play,” which are incorporatedherein by reference.

Another feature of EGMs is that they often include unique interfaces,including serial interfaces, to connect to specific subsystems internaland external to the EGM. The serial devices may have electricalinterface requirements that differ from the “standard” EIA serialinterfaces provided by general purpose computing devices. Theseinterfaces may include, for example, Fiber Optic Serial, opticallycoupled serial interfaces, current loop style serial interfaces, etc. Inaddition, to conserve serial interfaces internally in the EGM, serialdevices may be connected in a shared, daisy-chain fashion in whichmultiple peripheral devices are connected to a single serial channel.

The serial interfaces may be used to transmit information usingcommunication protocols that are unique to the gaming industry. Forexample, IGT's Netplex is a proprietary communication protocol used forserial communication between EGMs. As another example, SAS is acommunication protocol used to transmit information, such as meteringinformation, from an EGM to a remote device. Often SAS is used inconjunction with a player tracking system.

Certain EGMs may alternatively be treated as peripheral devices to acasino communication controller and connected in a shared daisy chainfashion to a single serial interface. In both cases, the peripheraldevices are assigned device addresses. If so, the serial controllercircuitry must implement a method to generate or detect unique deviceaddresses. General purpose computing device serial ports are not able todo this.

Security monitoring circuits detect intrusion into an EGM by monitoringsecurity switches attached to access doors in the EGM cabinet. Accessviolations result in suspension of game play and can trigger additionalsecurity operations to preserve the current state of game play. Thesecircuits also function when power is off by use of a battery backup. Inpower-off operation, these circuits continue to monitor the access doorsof the EGM. When power is restored, the EGM can determine whether anysecurity violations occurred while power was off, e.g., via software forreading status registers. This can trigger event log entries and furtherdata authentication operations by the EGM software.

Trusted memory devices and/or trusted memory sources are included in anEGM to ensure the authenticity of the software that may be stored onless secure memory subsystems, such as mass storage devices. Trustedmemory devices and controlling circuitry are typically designed to notenable modification of the code and data stored in the memory devicewhile the memory device is installed in the EGM. The code and datastored in these devices may include authentication algorithms, randomnumber generators, authentication keys, operating system kernels, etc.The purpose of these trusted memory devices is to provide gamingregulatory authorities a root trusted authority within the computingenvironment of the EGM that can be tracked and verified as original.This may be accomplished via removal of the trusted memory device fromthe EGM computer and verification of the secure memory device contentsis a separate third party verification device. Once the trusted memorydevice is verified as authentic, and based on the approval of theverification algorithms included in the trusted device, the EGM isenabled to verify the authenticity of additional code and data that maybe located in the gaming computer assembly, such as code and data storedon hard disk drives. Examples of trusted memory devices are described inU.S. Pat. No. 6,685,567, entitled “Process Verification,” which isincorporated herein by reference.

In at least one embodiment, at least a portion of the trusted memorydevices/sources may correspond to memory that cannot easily be altered(e.g., “unalterable memory”) such as EPROMS, PROMS, Bios, Extended Bios,and/or other memory sources that are able to be configured, verified,and/or authenticated (e.g., for authenticity) in a secure and controlledmanner.

According to one embodiment, when a trusted information source is incommunication with a remote device via a network, the remote device mayemploy a verification scheme to verify the identity of the trustedinformation source. For example, the trusted information source and theremote device may exchange information using public and privateencryption keys to verify each other's identities. In anotherembodiment, the remote device and the trusted information source mayengage in methods using zero knowledge proofs to authenticate each oftheir respective identities.

EGMs storing trusted information may utilize apparatuses or methods todetect and prevent tampering. For instance, trusted information storedin a trusted memory device may be encrypted to prevent its misuse. Inaddition, the trusted memory device may be secured behind a locked door.Further, one or more sensors may be coupled to the memory device todetect tampering with the memory device and provide some record of thetampering. In yet another example, the memory device storing trustedinformation might be designed to detect tampering attempts and clear orerase itself when an attempt at tampering has been detected. Examples oftrusted memory devices/sources are described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,515,718,entitled “Secured Virtual Network in a Gaming Environment,” which isincorporated herein by reference.

Mass storage devices used in a general purpose computing devicestypically enable code and data to be read from and written to the massstorage device. In a gaming environment, modification of the gaming codestored on a mass storage device is strictly controlled and would only beenabled under specific maintenance type events with electronic andphysical enablers required. Though this level of security could beprovided by software, EGMs that include mass storage devices includehardware level mass storage data protection circuitry that operates atthe circuit level to monitor attempts to modify data on the mass storagedevice and will generate both software and hardware error triggersshould a data modification be attempted without the proper electronicand physical enablers being present. Examples of using a mass storagedevice are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,149,522, entitled “Method ofAuthenticating Game Data Sets in an Electronic Casino Gaming System,”which is incorporated herein by reference.

Various changes and modifications to the present embodiments describedherein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes andmodifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe present subject matter and without diminishing its intendedadvantages. It is therefore intended that such changes and modificationsbe covered by the appended claims.

The invention is claimed as follows:
 1. A system comprising: aprocessor; and a memory device which stores a plurality of instructions,which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to: responsiveto data associated with a gaming establishment retail account beingaccessed via a mobile device application of a mobile device inassociation with a purchase made at a point-of-sale terminal of a gamingestablishment retail system and responsive to the purchase made at thepoint-of-sale terminal being a qualifying purchase: determine if aprogressive award triggering event occurred in association with thequalifying purchase made at the point-of-sale terminal, and responsiveto the progressive award triggering event occurring in association withthe qualifying purchase made at the point-of-sale terminal: communicatedata to the mobile device which results in the mobile device displayinga notification associating with winning a progressive award, and modifya credit balance of an account, the modification being based on theprogressive award.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein when executed bythe processor, the instructions cause the processor to not modify anycredit balance of any account based on the progressive award responsiveto the purchase made at the point-of-sale terminal not being aqualifying purchase.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the accounthaving the modified credit balance comprises the gaming establishmentretail account.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the progressive awardtriggering event occurs based on at least one displayed event.
 5. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the progressive award triggering event occursindependent of any displayed events.
 6. The system of claim 1, whereinthe determination of if the purchase made at the point-of-sale terminalis a qualifying purchase is based on at least one of: an amount of thepurchase, a type of good purchased, a type of service purchased, anidentify of a purchaser, and a type of payment used.
 7. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the data associated with the gaming establishmentretail account comprises data associated with at least one of: acashless wagering account, a credit card account, a debit card account,and a pre-paid account.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein when executedby the processor, the instructions cause the processor to determinewhether the purchase made at the point-of-sale terminal is a qualifyingpurchase.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein the data is wirelesslycommunicated via a wireless protocol selected from the group consistingof: a near field communication protocol, a WiFi protocol, a Bluetoothprotocol, a Bluetooth Low Energy protocol, and a mobile device networkprotocol.
 10. A method of operating a system, the method comprising:responsive to data associated with a gaming establishment retail accountbeing accessed via a mobile device application of a mobile device inassociation with a purchase made at a point-of-sale terminal of a gamingestablishment retail system and responsive to the purchase made at thepoint-of-sale terminal being a qualifying purchase: determining, by aprocessor, if a progressive award triggering event occurred inassociation with the qualifying purchase made at the point-of-saleterminal, and responsive to the progressive award triggering eventoccurring in association with the qualifying purchase made at thepoint-of-sale terminal: communicating data to the mobile device whichresults in the mobile device displaying a notification associating withwinning a progressive award, and modifying a credit balance of anaccount, the modification being based on the progressive award.
 11. Themethod of claim 10, further comprising not modifying any credit balanceof any account based on the progressive award responsive to the purchasemade at the point-of-sale terminal not being a qualifying purchase. 12.The method of claim 10, wherein the account having the modified creditbalance comprises the gaming establishment retail account.
 13. Themethod of claim 10, wherein the progressive award triggering eventoccurs based on at least one displayed event.
 14. The method of claim10, wherein the progressive award triggering event occurs independent ofany displayed events.
 15. The method of claim 10, wherein thedetermination of if the purchase made at the point-of-sale terminal is aqualifying purchase is based on at least one of: an amount of thepurchase, a type of good purchased, a type of service purchased, anidentify of a purchaser, and a type of payment used.
 16. The method ofclaim 10, wherein the data associated with the gaming establishmentretail account comprises data associated with at least one of: acashless wagering account, a credit card account, a debit card account,and a pre-paid account.
 17. The method of claim 10, further comprisingdetermining, by the processor, whether the purchase made at thepoint-of-sale terminal is a qualifying purchase.
 18. The method of claim10, wherein the data is wirelessly communicated via a wireless protocolselected from the group consisting of: a near field communicationprotocol, a WiFi protocol, a Bluetooth protocol, a Bluetooth Low Energyprotocol, and a mobile device network protocol.